Dark Live (Being rewritten)
by Kittykat1418
Summary: Ash is your average school boy; but one day when a new student by the name of Misty comes to his school, he later discovers that she is his new foster sister and she seems to have a not so pleasant past, but seems to refuse to reveal what happened or why she has a three scars on her wrist. Rated T for Misty's backstory and dramatic events happening to young teens. Pokeshipping. AU
1. Transfer Student (Rewritten)

(This'll likely show up as a new chapter, but its just the first rewritten). I been re-reading this story recently to try and rebuild what I wanted for the sequel, but I felt like it wasn't up to standard of conveying the correct emotions. So I decided to rewrite it, improving the emotions and making the relationship between our main characters much more believable. That and get Ash, hopefully, back into character, or some semblance of character.

* * *

Fourteen year old boy, Ash Ketchum sat at his desk next to the window. Staring out of the glass at the skies, he thought to himself: he wanted to be out there, free like the Pidgey and Spearow that flew by the classroom. Not stuck in this annoying classroom to rot away amongst the crowd of students that sat around him. Nearby, he could see his childhood friend with her eyes focused on the front of the classroom. It seemed to him that May Maple was interested in what the teacher was saying, so he decided to have a look for himself and was met with quite the interesting sight. As standing there at the front of the room was a miserable looking girl, trying to avert her pretty viridian eyes away from the onlooking crowd.

Frowning, Ash wanted to give a sigh when he saw the teacher resting his hands on the girl's shoulders. He never liked the teacher, finding him to be a bit of a prev as he was constantly looking at May's rather large bust whenever he thought nobody was looking. As he glanced at the young girl, he realised that she uncomfortable as she fiddled with her hands and attempted to cover a trio of scars of on her right wrist. For a brief moment, Ash was near curious and even concerned about why it seemed like the transfer student was suicidal. Internally sighing, he decided he might as well listen to the teacher introduce the girl. "This here is our new student, Misty Waterflower. Be sure to treat her like you would another student."

' _Misty, huh..._ ' he thought to himself, resting his head on his hand and then realised he was next to the only empty chair in the room. Of course, cliches were abundant in this classroom. He glanced back up at Misty, who's sad virdian eyes were nervously looking around the classroom until they settled onto his chocolate ones for a brief moment. Chocolate met Viridian even if for a second before her gaze adverted from his and shook her hair gently. Hanging limp on her head was a mane of tangerine, stunningly fitting with her viridian eyes. Yet, her whole appearance was dampened by the sight of faded bruises and the scars. It seemed like nobody else had noticed it though when Ash looked briefly around the classroom.

"Well, lovely lady, you get to sit next to Ash Ketchum," the teacher commented, looking at the girl with eyes that seemed kind at first. Even if he didn't mind that the beautiful, sad girl was going to sit next to him, Ash felt disgusted at his teacher for saying the word 'lovely lady' to the nervous 14 year old girl. "Ash, would you raise your hand so Misty knows where to sit?"

Wanting to grumble, Ash just slowly raised his hand and watched as Misty walked through the classroom to reach the seat. Every step she made seemed to bring more nerves up for her and she even closed her eyes at one point, a look of fright plastered on her face and nobody had even done anything. Eventually, she had a relieved expression when she made it to the shared desk that she was now going to be sitting at. Glancing a shy look at Ash, she noticed that he was gazing out of the window with little interest.

Soon after she sat down, the teacher began to drone on about the lesson ahead of them and requested the students to make notes on what he was talking about. She picked up her pen with her right hand and subconsciously gazed at the pale scars that blistered her pristine skin.

Suddenly she felt a movement on the table and saw that the raven haired boy, she was sat next to, had fallen asleep from evident boredom judging by the expression on his face. Unsure of what to do, she simply thought as she looked down at his handsome face. ' _Does school bore him...that badly?_ '

A blush illuminated at her face, as she tried to expel the thoughts of the boy looking good. It only made her feel more nervous and less able to cope with being in such a large classroom. She wanted to hug herself and yell at herself that it was all fine, that she wasn't living in the past. Yet she just couldn't in this room, being forced to hide her emotions and put up a half-strong front. A silence sigh left her lips as she turned her focus back onto her writing, though she paid little attention as her gaze was focused directly on her wrist.

* * *

Brringgg! The final bell chimed, indicating that it was home time and for the students to leave the school. When Misty chose to leave, she gazed at Ash. Closing her eyes, she thought about how the boy constantly slept during the day. Waking only at lunch when his friend, May, came to pick him up, offering a smile at the tangerine haired girl before leaving. Picking up her bag, she let out a low sigh. It was time to go, and she needed to get moving. Lifting the bag carefully onto her back, she whispered to nobody in particular. "Togepi?..." there was not even a squeak, but she knew that she had a sleeping Pokemon in her bag. After all...it was required for where her sister was taking her.

Mere seconds after the girl's whisper, Ash woke up and watched as the girl left without noticing him stirring. He had just caught her whisper and wondered what she meant by calling out the baby Pokemon's name. Was she sneaking a Pokemon into school? Nah, she was too shy and nervous to attempt something like that so there must have been an important reason for it. But he didn't have time to think about it, his mom wanted him to get home as soon as he could as she had something important to tell him. Slugging his rucksack onto his back, he left the school and headed down the road towards his home. He lived relatively close, within 5 minutes of the school when running - 10 when walking.

Walking home was very quiet, mostly cause the boy was used to going home with May. Yet, he knew that the brown haired girl had gone on a date with her boyfriend, Drew, and he knew never to come between them as they rarely got to date due to the girl's hectic timetable from being the daughter of a gym leader. The responsibilities of looking after her father's normal types as well as her own Pokemon - she had the most out of the group, at a total of 5 - kept her quite busy on a regular basis. He loved Pokemon as well, but he only own 2 and 1 of those didn't live with him regular. As he thought, he suddenly heard a loud. "Pikapi!" and the gently thud on paws on his shoulder.

"Hi, Pikachu. Did you come to pick me up?" he asked, looking at his shoulder at the yellow electric mouse. His Pokemon's mouth opened to 'chaa' as he gently petted the Pokemon's head. "Race me?"

"Pika-aa!" electricity sparkled at the Pokemon's electric sacs, showing his competitive nature as he leapt from his best friend's shoulder and charged forward with a white cone around him indicative of the move Quick Attack. Not noticing the move at first Ash simply chuckled, running after his Pokemon at his own highest speed. He knew quite well that he was nowhere near as fast as the electric type, but he still loved to do friendly races against Pikachu quite often. Every time the electric type came to pick him up from school, he would make the challenge of a race and always lose.

"Hey, no fair!" he yelled in frustration and annoyance, having noticed the near transparent cone that surrounded the electric type's body and made him way faster then he probably should be. Making a quick command, he yelled higher then the last call so that Pikachu would be more likely to hear and listen. "Quick Attack should be illegal, you know that!"

"Pika-pikachu!" came the yell of his Pokemon, far ahead as he removed the move under the request. He remained at a high speed though, being one of the fastest Pokemon in existence at the end of the day. Making it to the gate of their house first, the Pikachu jumped up onto fence and gave a loud "Pika!" to indicate that he had won and he wanted his prize the moment the boy had the chance. The 'price' was extra poke-sweets, nothing special but it was something and Pikachu adored the poke-sweets that Ash's mom made.

"You win...again," Ash grumbled, knowing that he'd have to tell his mom to make poke-sweets after he found out what she wanted. He pushed open the latch of the gate and let Pikachu run over to his older twin brother, a Raichu that was playing with a large blue ball near their Pokemon-house. "Hi, Raichu!" he gave a loud yell, receiving the 'rai-rai' response. "I'll feed you soon, I need to talk to mom!" After this yell, the two Pokemon looked at one enough with confusion and mild curiosity as neither knew what was going on. All they had seen was a young girl entering the house with what seemed like her older sister.

Rushing over to the living, the boy yelled. "Mom, what did you want to talk to me about? Did dad come home?!" he asked, excitement building up in him. He loved with his father came home, as he was nearly always at the league in Johto and rarely came home - even for his Pokemon, Raichu. Even though Raichu was his beloved Pokemon, the electric type wasn't used for battle like the rest. He was nothing more then the Ketchum family pet. Pikachu, on the other hand, was Ash's starter and a battle companion whenever the school host battle ceremonies. But as he walked into the living room, his heart sank as his father wasn't there with his mother. Instead, he was greeted by a surprising sight. "I guess not..."

"I'm sorry, Ash. Though your father called, he wants you to phone him as soon as you can," Delia replied, as she put a comforting hand on the girl next to her. A girl that Ash recognised to be Misty, the new girl in his class. Within the girl's arms was a young Togepi, that was playing with a rattle as its 'mother' looked down at it with those same sad eyes. The older woman looked at her son and asked him in a quiet, but serious voice, that she rarely used when he wasn't in trouble. "Do you remember when I told you that I had signed up to do fostering?"

Nodding, Ash instantly realised where this was going as a low gasp left his mouth. Was this why Misty had started at his school? Because she was going to be his foster sister for now? It seemed like his mother caught onto his thought process as she said, her hand still comfortingly resting on Misty's shoulder. "Yes, she is going to be your new foster sister. Turns out that her parents divorced a few years back and her father is, lets say, inadequate to look after her and her older sisters," the pain that burned in Misty's eyes at the sound of the word 'father' seemed to imprint itself into Ash's soul, he didn't like that look and always wanted to remove it from the tangerine haired girl's face. A few stray tears leaked down her face and splattered on her Togepi, which looked up with eyes of worry as it tried to jump up and comfort its 'mommy'. Sighing, Delia gave a pitying look Misty's way before turning her glance back to her son with stern eyes. "As you can likely tell, she hasn't had the greatest time in her life so I want you to be on your best behaviour and do little that would upset her even more. Do you hear me, mister?"

"I understand, mom. But didn't you say she has older sisters, why aren't they looking after her?" he had to ask, he needed to know that much at least. And it kept his mind of Misty's tears and pained expression as she gently petted Togepi for any semblance of comfort.

"Well, her oldest sister, Daisy, is only 18 and is barely able to support herself and her other 2 sisters. Both Lily and Violet, 16 year olds, are out of school and are able to look after themselves. But Daisy worried quite a bit about the fact that Misty is still in school and suffers from severe PTSD. Plus, she felt like anything from Misty's past might upset her more then required in her healing process. That's why we're looking after her."

' _PTSD?_ ' Ash wondered, he had studied about the word and knew what it meant. Yet, he wondered what harsh and tragic event that Misty must have suffered to have received such of mental condition. But then he remembered Misty's skinny, if anaemic, structure and faded bruises. Abuse?...Quite likely, unfortunately. Trying to pull his mind off the topic, he asked. "Is it alright if I go feed the Pokemon? I barely said hello to Raichu when I arrived," he said, sheepishly. Though he now knew why his mother wanted him home as soon as possible. "Oh and Pikachu will be wanting some poke-sweets...I raced him again."

Delia gave a sigh, but nodded her head. "Alright, but first I need to help Misty sort out her room so make sure to tell him it'll be quite some time," Ash gave a big nod before running off to collect the Pokemon food. Eventually, the boy ran by the open door with 2 bowls of food in hand. But he then slipped over a stray toy on the floor and hit the floor with a loud 'Ow' as the food went everywhere. Chuckling, Delia got up to go help her son. "Stay here, Misty. I'll be right back, sweetie," she made sure to say, before leaving the room and saying to her son in a scolding voice. "Ash Ketchum, you need to watch where your going!"

Watching the mother and son, Misty gave a low smile despite the trail of tears rolling down her left cheek. "Well, Togepi..." she whispered, stroking the soft body of her Pokemon. "It...looks like we'll be fine...right here..." she mused, looking at Delia and Ash with worry. "...I sure hope so, anyway..."

* * *

Later that night, Ash was sat on his bed with her arms resting on his windowsill. Looking down at the dark grass below, he could see the two electric types playing together in their own little way. To put that clearly, they were having a battle to show off their various skills. They would frequently do this and with Pikachu being much more of a battler then his brother, he would more often then not come out of top. And tonight was no different as after a combination of Iron Tail and Volt Tackle, he pushed Raichu to the ground. Panting, the older Pokemon gave a thumbs up and seemed to congratulate Pikachu. Afterwards, he walked over to the Pokemon-house and crawled inside. Pikachu followed swiftly, bringing a smile to his trainer's face. He tilted his head back to the sky above, looking at the pale moon as it rose into the sky.

Pulled away from the serene scene, Ash turned at the screeching down behind him. Opening the door was a young fairy type, as it toddled into the room with a cry of "Toge-Toge-Priii!" A large, toothy smile illuminated the baby's face as it ran into the room and darted straight for Ash's bookcase. Whilst he likely should have scolded the baby Pokemon, he found it more interesting that the Togepi belonged to such a shy girl. It was like the complete opposite in personality. As he watched the fairy type trash his room, he just chuckled and was about to introduce himself when he heard footsteps at the door.

Reaching over, Misty grasped hold of the baby Pokemon earning a surprised squeak from the child as it suddenly looked up at its mother. "You shouldn't be in here, and you made a mess at that!" scolded the tangerine haired girl in a voice much louder then she had before, before she realised who's room she was currently standing in and backed up in worry. "I-I'm sorry, I t-took my...eye off her for a second...and she left...," her voice had lost any semblance of power, become less then a whisper full of fear.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not mad at her. I found that it was actually pretty cute as she just randomly decided to come in and roam through my stuff," chuckled the teenage boy, smiling up at Misty in an attempt to calm her evident nerves. He turned and sat on the side of the bed, patting the area next to him in his way of telling her to come sit down. After she did just that, he gently took Togepi out of his arms and watched as the young baby Pokemon looked up at him with large curious eyes before giving him a large smile and hugging him. "Hi there, little one. I'm Ash, hope we can become friends."

"Toge-prii!" the little one gave him a toothy grin, her adorable face evidently showing no fear. Smiling down at her, Ash ruffled the baby's spikes and then turned to Misty, seeing the worry in her eyes. There was definitely a huge contrast in how the pair acted, with the trainer being shy and nervous whilst the Pokemon was an energetic ball of trouble.

Looking down, Misty played with her hands and whispered. "S-she's not normally...like that...she's usually quite peaceful...and obedient. I...don't understand the sudden...shift...," her eyes were focused entirely on the faded scars that loomed on her skin, even Ash noticed where her gaze was and he knew that he needed to get her attention away from it.

"Well, I might have an explanation for it. Baby Pokemon are unique, they rarely listen in battle and they are common troublemakers. My Pikachu when he was a Pichu was outright trouble. But, they also emulate their trainer's feelings and emotions. From what I've heard, you came from a household with a lot of trouble revolving around it. It's quite likely that Togepi picked up on your emotions and thus acted reclusive, but then when she realised that you were more comfortable here - she decided that she could finally act normal."

Mouth slowly opened, Misty's eyes near teared up. "..I...I'm sorry, Togepi..." she whispered, taking ahold of her Pokemon and hugging it closely as more tears leaked from viridian orbs. "...It's my fault, you couldn't...be a normal baby...mommy's so sorry...," her body shook and lead to Ash gently placing his hand on her shoulder, earning a gasp from the girl and a look of surprise before she turned back to the baby in her arms.

"Toge?..." murmured the fairy type, looking up at her mommy with surprise. Pushing herself up, she hugged Misty's neck and said. "Togepi, toge-toge. Toge-prii!" she yelled, seemingly having a meaning behind what she was calling out. Yet, the tangerine haired girl only blinked her viridian eyes and looked down at the little baby with pure confusion on a tear-streaked face.

Taking ahold of the baby, Ash smiled and moving the baby like a puppet - much to the Togepi's liking, bouncing up and down in Ash's arms. "I believe she's saying this, Misty: Mommy, don't say sorry. I wanted you to feel happy and have me not be a piece of trouble," he paused, looking at Togepi for confirmation. The adorable nod that bounced across the baby as the fairy type gave her mommy a cute smile. "See, I told you. She emulates the emotions of you, and she wanted to give you the space. You may be the mother in the situation, but sometimes the baby knows what you want more then you know."

A blush formed on Misty's cheeks, as a faint, but noticeable, smile finally worked its way onto her face as she took Togepi back and hugged the baby in a less tearful way. Grinning, Ash nodded at the cute scene and felt like him and the girl were comfortable enough to finally ask about something related to the girl's past. Not something that would trigger her PTSD, hopefully. "How did you and Togepi meet, anyway?"

"...I..." suddenly that shy personality was back, Misty didn't seem comfortable anymore and with only a few seconds she was standing. Turning back, she gave an apologetic look and then left in complete silence. Whilst Ash should have been surprised, he truly wasn't. With the girl's anxiety and PTSD, any question about her past would likely cause to leave the room with a awkward and apologetic look like what she had just gave him. But he could still remember the look in her eyes, the pain and near teary eyes. The red of her eye rims and the dark bags that showed the lack of sleep and everything else that hurt the poor girl. Though he had no idea how her meeting with Togepi linked to the harsher stuff that she had likely suffered, it definitely did and it might even link to her suicidal attempt.

Turning off the lamp, he turned on his bed and faced the window as the moon's light ran along the base of his bed. The patch of warmth drew him in, that warmth that originated from where Misty had been sat. He wondered why he was so intrigued by the PTSD victim, yet he didn't mind his strange interest as he wanted to help the girl overcome her traumas. Sighing, he let himself finally fall asleep with the last thing that appeared in his mind being Misty's sweet smile that he wished to protect.

Yet, to be simple, he couldn't say asleep after a loud scream rippled through the walls of the house followed by the crying of a baby. Sitting up, he prepared himself to get up to comfort the girl and Togepi. He then heard his mother's door opening and Delia's soothing voice talking to the sobbing girl. Yes, he wished to go help but he didn't want to put any unneeded pressure the girl after their last parting. Thus, he chose to lay back down and think of ways to help the depressed girl without the unneeded pressure and one of the biggest ways he could think of: Introducing her to his friends and giving her the space to make her own decisions and pull herself back together. It was simple, but he could only hope it'd be effective as he let himself fall back into dreamland with the wish of not hearing another nightmare that night from the poor girl in the guest room.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this little version of the opening chapter of my story, I thought about it for quite some time and I really hope it's good. And I remove the very last scene from the next morning, I feel like it was unnecessary for this chapter and will likely to rewritten in the next one. This chapter already has everything I believe it needs to set up this emotional train ride.


	2. Encounters with friends (Rewritten)

Alright, chapter 2 rewritten. Lets start this. It won't be anything similar to the original chapter it's based on as I planned to improve how Misty met Ash's friends and get them into a roles I had initially intended - for starters, giving all hints to how May and Misty are supposed to interact.

* * *

As the sun rose, Misty was resting by the window of the guest room. Chapped blue walls were lit up by the calm glow from the rising sun, in the corner was a low-quality sleeping bag that contained only her beloved baby Pokemon. Sighing, Misty gazed down at the garden and saw as Raichu woke himself up. Though, Pikachu was nowhere in sight which led to Misty to believe he was already awake and likely exercising. As if to prove her thoughts, the electric rodent ran by in a Quick Attack with a loud 'Pika' as Raichu looked on with a surprised look. Giving a small smile, she giggled at the sight. It was rare for her to be able to enjoy such sights, but she wanted to make the most of it whilst she could. Taking a breath of fresh air, she whispered. "...The air is much cleaner then back there..."

"Togepi!" she heard a adorable cry, causing her to turn and see her 'daughter' running over to her. Tiny arms were flapping around as the little fairy type toddled over to her and then grabbed at her leg, hugging it close. Smiling, she was about to reach down and pick the little Spike Ball up when she saw those very same arms swaying around in a motion that she recognised as the move Metronome. In a way, despite loving her baby, she feared the move greatly and froze whenever she saw those tiny cream paws moving back and forth. Lucky for her, the move that arrived from the Metronome was just Bounce as the tiny Pokemon leapt into her arms. "Prii!"

Giving a small chuckle, Misty snuggled the baby close to her chest. A stray tear left her eye, but she ignored it as she lifted Togepi up into sight. "Lets get something to eat, Togepi," she whispered, watching the little way bounced in her arms at the sound of 'food'. Smiling, she snuggled the baby Pokemon closer to herself and left the near empty bedroom. Down the staircase and into the kitchen. Her bag was on the counter, she reached within and pulled out Togepi's baby bottle. Inside the bag wasn't just the battle bottle, but baby food and milk powders of all variants. Picking up some strawberry milk powder - her baby's favourite - she quickly made up the milk and tested the temperature on her non-injured wrist.

Sitting down in the corner, she let Togepi - who had been roaming around whilst Misty made the bottle - crawl onto her lap and sit with the bottle nip in my mouth as she lapped up the sweet tasted milk. Paying no attention to her surroundings, Misty didn't notice when Delia walked into the room until the older woman began to speak to her. "Good morning, sweetie," as the teenager looked up, Delia gave a pleasant smile. "Did you and Togepi sleep well after that incident?"

Knowing what the 'incident' was, her nightmare, Misty just looked down and whispered. "No...not really. Togepi did, she settle down instantly...but..." unable to bring herself to finish, the poor girl just hugged herself as the baby Pokemon on her lap looked up with concern after finishing the bottle. Putting the bottle back in her bag, Misty avoided Delia's pitying looks. Glancing up, she was mildly surprised to see the young woman cooking breakfast. The warm smell reached her nose, but it didn't make her want to go 'delicious' even though she knew the food would be great. It just make her stomach churn, and she had to whisper. "I-I'm not hunger.."

"Are you sure, it's not good for you to not eat," Delia commented, a sad expression adorn on her face. Handing a lunchbox to the teenager, she gave a small smile. "If you get hungry, be sure to at least try to eat this at lunch. I will also call the school so you have permission to go to the infirmary at any time if you feel like the day's getting too harsh for you. I heard the nurse is quite a nice woman to talk to, maybe you could explain how you feel to her."

"...Thank you, Miss Delia," whispered Misty, placing the lunchbox in her school bag. Even though she knew she likely wouldn't touch it, she wanted to be grateful and not hurt the woman's feelings. Gently, she placed her baby down on the floor and knelt down. "Be good for Miss Delia, Togepi. I'll be home soon..." she whispered, leaving her baby-bag behind as she picked up her school bag. Hearing footsteps, she knew it was time to leave. "I-I'm gonna head off now..."

Nodding, Miss Delia left the food for a brief second to hug the young teenager. "Be alright out there and remember that you can always get the school to call me if you want to come home."

A faint smile worked its way onto Misty's lips as she headed off to the front door, a gentle wave as she turned. Watching her leave was Ash, unnoticed by the young tangerine haired girl as he stood on the staircase. He walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air and giving a hungry smile before snapping back into reality and asking the obvious question. "If your cooking, why did Misty just leave for school?"

Sighing, Delia handed her son his breakfast. "She wasn't hungry, though I'm sure that was just a huge ruse," closing her eyes, she continued to explain her own beliefs on Misty's condition. "I think the concept of food hurts her as she hasn't had a decent meal in months."

"Hasn't?" confusion filled Ash's voice, as well as the trace of worry. As somebody who adored food as much of Pokemon, he couldn't understand how anybody could pass up his mother's food after smelling it. Even as he spoke, he was already digging into the eggs and toast. "...I don't get it, but I want her to start eating again. Nobody should pass up your food, mom."

"Awwh, thank you, sweetie," Delia smiled, but her face then dropped as she nodded. "That's my first big plan, to help her eat again. The poor girl, she's so skinny and it worries me greatly," she sighed and looked at Ash, seriously. "Whilst I won't explain why she hasn't eaten, that's for her to say, I will say that I want you to help out with her eating. It's imperative that she starts to eat as soon as possible, maybe try and help her with her lunch today. Anything."

Finishing his food, Ash nodded in understanding. He'd do anything to keep Misty's smile adorn on her face and he doesn't want to see her slowly hurting herself with starvation. Grabbing his bag, he looked at his mother and smiled. "I need to get going, I promised May that I would walk with her this morning and its nearly time to get to the meeting point. I don't want to miss her or be late."

"I understand, Ash. Go now, I'll wash up. Tell May that I said 'morning' for me and that I hope she and her Pokemon are doing well."

Nodding, Ash grinned and soon left the house to head off to school. The meeting point that he had been talking about was just around the corner at a small sweet shop that catered for both Pokemon and humans, he and Pikachu would often go there with May and her Skitty. As he arrived there, he saw the brown haired girl waiting there with the very cat Pokemon he just thought of sitting on her head. "Morning, Ash," she smiled, running over to hug him. Little Skitty 'nyaaed' in annoyance at the quick movement, which owned a apology for her owner.

"Morning, May. Why do you have Skitty on you?" he asked, it wasn't normal for the girl to be literally wearing her Pokemon in the early morning before school. Though the school did have lessons relating to Pokemon, so it was possible.

Turns out his thought process was accurate as the bubbly girl responded with. "Oh, my class has a Pokemon Biology class. Teach asked us to bring in one of our Pokemon so we could study the biology of the certain Pokemon. I had wanted to bring in Torchic, but dad was persistent in me having to take either Munchlax or Skitty due to my heritage as the normal gym leader," sighing, she shrugged and then continued. "I didn't want to bring Munchlax in, not wanting him to ruin all the food in the cafeteria and Skitty, whilst a troublemaker, knows to stay in her poke ball when required."

"Yeah, I forgot sometimes that we don't share lessons beyond Maths and English," as he thought of maths class, he remembered how Misty had joined the school and was actually in most of his classes. If anything, he wondered if his mom had requested that intentionally so the poor girl would often have someone. "Too bad that I couldn't bring Pikachu in today, he and Skitty get along well and he's gonna be so jealous when he hears this."

"If he hears it," his childhood friend grinned, taking Skitty off her head and giving the normal type a little snuggle. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and asked in complete obliviousness. "So what did Miss Delia want you to come home so early for yesterday?"

"Oh," he felt awkward for a second, unsure of how to put the situation. "I had wanted to tell everyone together, but considering your my best friend I might as well tell you now. Remember when I told you that mom had gotten into foster care?" he waited on a low nod before continuing. "Turns out when I got home, I had a new foster sister waiting with her Togepi. And guess who's my foster sister? Lets say you met her briefly yesterday."

Sometimes May could be slow, but most of the time she would put 2 and 2 together and click. "The transfer student?" Surprise was evident on her face, more so after Ash gave the nod in answer. "Why would she be in foster care...yeah, she seemed quiet and all...but without a family?"

"Whilst I'm not certain of her past myself, I know that her parents are divorced and her sisters cannot look after her. So she and her Togepi are now living with us for the time being."

"How is she outside of class anyway?"

"Still very quiet, she only seems to raise her voice when scolding Togepi and if anybody's in the room she'll go near silent. If you even so much as ask her about her past, she'll leave the room. Last night, I tried to ask her about how to meet her Pokemon but she gave me a pained look and left..."

"Ohh..." May whispered, looking down at her own Skitty. "I...kinda understand how it can be painful to meet a Pokemon. I never wanted to follow in daddy's footsteps, but he made me raise Munchlax and Skitty. But I don't hate either of them, and Skitty happens to know Blizzard which could help me in my true dreams. However, I don't understand her past and thus I can't compare my own past to hers."

Instead of answering, Ash caught sight of the school gates and responded. "Well, I don't want to upset her by talking about her behind her back so we should hurry and meet up with everyone. I'm sure you want to see Drew and k.i.s.s him."

Blushing, May went quiet in the attempt to not go up and scream in her childhood friend's face. Instead, she slowed down and grumbled to herself. "Why does he always have to tease me, he doesn't even have a girlfriend..."

"Did you say something, May?" Ash asked, obviously teasing as he had definitely heard it. Once he received a glare in response, he laughed and continued. "Did you hear that we have a Pokemon tournament coming up, and everyone in school has to take part in it?"

"Yeah, I heard about it. Had been planning to use either Glaceon and Beautifly in the battles, though I don't expect I'll get very far. Why'd you ask, have you already put your eyes on the prize? 'Cause you believe in your Pikachu that much?"

"Of course I'm aiming to win, isn't everybody?" came the comment, as Ash thought about Pikachu's moves as he made the Pokemon a pure physical fighter that attacked up front and personal with moves like: Volt Tackle, Iron Tail, Dig and Quick Attack at its dispersal. Sure some would point out that as an electric type, Pikachu would be better of going with moves like Thunderbolt. However, Ash saw potential in Pikachu as a surprise threat whenever he came out onto the field and loved to work with the shock value. But he shook his head and thought back to why he asked to question. "Well, I was wondering about Misty. I doubt she's aware of the event and she doesn't have a Pokemon besides Togepi."

"And her Togepi would be too weak to battle, correct?" finishing the statement, May looked worried. "There's no way she'd get very far and she'd likely to tormented for using such a weak Pokemon. There's a huge difference between your Pikachu, who's described as weak but you've made him work, and a literal baby Pokemon.."

"That's my thought process. Even when Pikachu was still a baby himself, I had been training him for battle. There's no doubt in my mind that Togepi isn't trained for battle with the way she acts and how much her trainer babies her. Before I left, I had a brief look at the interior of Misty's bag to see baby food and such. Something that shows just how much she babies Togepi unlike how I trained Pichu from day one."

As the pair walked through the school gate, May nodded her head as she held Skitty close. "Even my Pokemon, which I've been secretly training for contests away from my father's eyes, are able to battle. Even Skitty here, who's best move is Blizzard and is able to use Assist."

"Even though her Blizzard misses more often then it hits," came the teasing tone of another boy, a grass head with a Roselia standing at his feet. Looking up, May giggled and went to hug her boyfriend. "Nice to see you two, May. Are you having a good day?"

"It's been just fine, you have Pokemon Biology too?" she asked, spotting Roselia and giving the grass type a big smile.

"Yep, but clearly at a different point in the day to you," Drew commented, petting Skitty. "How's the rest of them?"

"Torchic got himself in trouble again with Glaceon, so they were fighting before I left. Apparently Torchic accidentally used Ember and caught Glaceon in the crossfire, burning the ice type's tail. Lets say that he shot back with Ice Beam and they started a make-shift fight right in front of me," grumbled May, before she turned her attention back to her other 2 Pokemon. "Beautifly's was asleep when I left and Munchlax, was being...well Munchlax and eating all of dad's breakfast."

Chuckling, Drew turned his attention to Ash and gave him a high five. "Looking forward to the tournament next week? 'Cause me and Roselia are gonna beat your precious Pikachu to the ground."

"Oh please, Drew. All your Roselia knows is grass moves, whilst on the other hand my Pikachu knows 4 moves of different types," Ash commented, with a grin of confidence on his face. With his Pokemon's moves, he was far-certain that Roselia's poison type would pull it down as Dig would instantly knock it out. That and Iron Tail and Quick Attack were also beneficial. "But, your on. I'll win and don't forgot that."

Suddenly, whilst he was thinking and speaking with confidence, he felt arms wrap around him and turned to see a mass of blue hair. "Dawn," he sighed, looking at the girly girl as she pulled her arms off him. "Hello, you."

"Hi, Ash!" the bubbly girl commented, bouncing around until she was in front of him. "I overheard you talking about the competition, I can't wait to watch you. Though you'll have to face a certain 'edge-lord'," giggling, she looked over to a bench where her boyfriend was sitting.

"Who's Paul planning on using in the competition, did he tell you?" questioned Ash, a look of curiosity on his face.

"Oh, Electabuzz. Who else really?" Dawn settled down, before smiling. "I'm planning on using Piplup, I don't expect to get far with opponents like you and Paul so I decided I might as well clock-out early and go with a simple option."

"...A...competition?...," a low voice caught the attention of the group and turning Ash was surprised to see his new foster sister near them with fear in her eyes, but she had been just brave enough to ask them.

"You haven't be told yet, but there's a competition next week and all the students have to take part in battling," Ash said, stepping over to the girl and putting a hand on a shoulder. He wasn't surprised when she shook it off and continued to look fearful.

It didn't take long that fearful long changed into worry combined with something else. "...If...only," came a low whisper, before she shook her head with tears collected in the corner of her closed eyes. "B-but...Togepi can't take part..." her body shook at the worry of having to use her baby for battling, she disliked the idea of it even if she knew that Togepi had a move that was good: Psychic. How she had the move? Well, Misty didn't have a clue.

"I had expected as much and we'll have to come up with something, but for now just relax and don't worry about that," Ash smiled, knowing full-well that it wouldn't do much to help with the poor girl's nerves. "Anyway, I want to introduce you to my friends. Guys, this is Misty Waterflower and she's my new foster sister. Her only Pokemon is Togepi."

Smiling, May walked over and gently smiled at Misty without getting into her face. "Hello, Misty. I saw you yesterday during class, my name is May Maple. Originating from Hoenn, I'm mostly here for school. Whilst yes I could have gone to school in my own region, I begged dad to allow me to go to school with Ash," she chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "As for Pokemon," lifting Skitty into view before she continued to list the rest. "Besides Skitty, I also own a Glaceon, Torchic, Munchlax and Beautifly."

For a brief moment, the nervous look changed back into fear as Misty closed her eyes and shook gently at the mere thought of a bug type. However, she calmed herself down and nodded her head very slowly. Looking up at Ash, he nodded with reassurance before indicating for another to continue. From the kindness of May came the perkiness of Dawn, the energetic bluenette jumping over to Misty and grasping her hands. "My name is Dawn Berlitz, from Sinnoh though my mom moved here recently," grinning, she gently pointed at her fingers in counting off her Pokemon. "I own a Piplup, Pachirisu and Buneary. My boyfriend would be here to introduce himself, but he's kinda brooding by himself as usual."

Sighing, Drew pulled the bluenette back and said. "Your scaring her, Dawn. Learn to respect personal space," he looked at the nervous girl and said. "Sorry about that, she's a little hyperactive. As for me, I'm Drew, May's boyfriend, and also her rival in the dream to be a coordinator. As you can see, I own a Roselia. Though I also own a Vibrava and a Absol."

Quietly, Misty looked around the three with fear in her eyes and she half-wanted to run away then and there. But something kept her glued to the ground, something that she couldn't explain even after looking up at Ash. Well, it did glue her down until she heard Dawn speak up again. "Misty, serious question. What's with the scars on your wrist?"

Breathing heavily was the least of the poor girl's concerns, as tears formed in her eyes. Grasping at her own wrist, the mere sight of the scars sent her screaming and running away from the group. Leaving the group bewildered and Dawn regretful, she didn't intend for the girl to run away in tears like that. As for Ash, he felt angry at Dawn for hurting Misty's feelings...but yet at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to reprimand her besides a quick statement with the shake of the head. "You shouldn't have done that," before leaving to go find the tangerine haired girl.

* * *

Crying until she could no more, Misty stayed huddled by the fence in a secluded part of the courtyard. Head in her knees, she refused to let anyone see her tear-streaked face or her puffy and red her eyes were. Even when she heard footsteps behind her, all she could do was croaked out a quiet. "Go away..." until she felt a hand on her shoulder in the attempt to comfort her. "A-Ash?..." came her whisper, recognising the hand with little effort.

"Shh, I'm here. Dawn's a bit of a airhead, she didn't intend to hurt you," he whispered, trying to soothe her evident pain with limited ability as he just wasn't the comforting type or used to crying girls. Though, he was surprised when she suddenly turned around and grasped him for support. With her fingers digging into his shoulder, he felt pain yet he refused to show that to her as he gently rubbed her back.

Hiccuping and sobbing, she tried to slur out a half-complete sentence. "...It's not...her...fault..." tiredly, she lifted her eyes to show just how bloodshot they were and how they were brimmed with tears as well as bags of blackness. Stress pounded at her head, trying to force her to collapse and it succeeded as she went limp in the boy's arms after feeling secure enough. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the darkness clouded her vision, the last brief thing she saw was Ash's worried face glancing down at her.

Ash sighed as he held the girl in his arms, having watched his faint from the evident stress that was laid on her body. Lifting her up bridle-style, he knew that he needed to get the girl to the infirmary as soon as possible so she could recover. "...Don't worry, Misty. Things will start looking up some, after I give Dawn a little bit of a lecture on sympathy...and maybe empathy..."

* * *

Alright, hope you enjoyed this rewrite. I decided to reduce the overwhelming number of Ash's friends to a more reasonable collection that hopefully more highlights their personalities. Obviously, if you've read it then you'd know that May's likely the most important of all of them, but everyone is going to get a significant role in one way or another. Most likely in the competition chapter...heh.


	3. Food and nightmares (Rewritten)

Hi Hi. Technically we have an all new chapter here, combining the original chapter 3 and start of 4 into one as I felt both problems the chapters stated could go hand-in-hand whilst prepping for the bond.

* * *

Gasp. Misty woke with a start, sweat rolling down her face as she tried to remove the images imprinted in her mind from her nightmare. Looking around, her head cold and confused. Soon she realised where she saw and sighed with relief, she was in the school's infirmary: somewhere safe. Hugging herself, she turned and saw somebody was watching her with concern. "Glad to see you awake, you were running quite a bad fever and kept thrashing in your sleep," Misty noticed quietly, moving her fingers up to her beating head, she felt long trails of dry tears on her face and near blushed in embarrassment. The nurse gave a pitying look, frowning. "Your brother brought you here, saying you collapsed from stress with those streaks as one of the side-effects."

' _Brother...,_ ' she thought, with a small smile on her face. ' _Ash..., though he probably should have put 'foster' in front...,_ ' looking up at the nurse, Misty gave a quiet mutter. "W-what time is it, Ms?..."

Nodding, the nurse pointed her finger at a clock in the far-corner of the room. Peering carefully, Misty saw that it was nearing lunch time. Well, she felt better so she probably should head out for lunch as soon as the bell goes. "Since its nearly lunch," she heard a voice, calling her to look back at the nurse. "You should head down to the cafeteria, something in your system will make you feel better."

"Ya..." she whispered, knowing it to be true. Though the thought of food only made her stomach want to churn and cause her to dry heave. Moving off the bed, she headed towards the door and gripped the handle so she wasn't facing the school nurse as her eyes gazed down at her wrist. Surely the nurse had seen the clear attempts at self harm and potential suicide, right? Why hadn't she questioned her, most people did...though it always sent her crying at the mere thought of attempting to kill herself after so many failures. ' _You don't deserve to live..._ ' a faint voice rang in her head, not her own but a very familiar one that brought unshed tears to her eyes.

Suddenly the bell rang out, shaking the few tears from Misty's eyes and allowing her to escape from a potential question from the already curious looking nurse. Pushing the door open, she closed it behind her as fast as she could without seeming rude. Leaning against it, she closed her eyes and breathed calmly. Opening them, she saw a rush of students and fear worked into her. Her hatred of crowds left her huddled against the door to the infirmary until the crowds dimmed down and allowed her to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine..." she kept whispering to herself, walking towards the cafeteria. She was, wasn't she? Sigh, probably not but she like to believe she was a completely normal girl most of the time even if it was nowhere near accurate. Finding the cafeteria took a while, it did the day before and even then she left quickly to eat out in the courtyard. Pushing the door open to the large room, her eyes widened at the shear amount of students and she just wanted to find one boy in the crowd. If anything, she felt more comfortable outside on her own. But she wanted to thank Ash for trying to help her.

Spotting Ash was like finding a needle in a haystack, his black hair didn't make him stand out at all. However, Dawn's blue hair did and allowed Misty to find the boy straight after. Slowly, she pushed herself to go over and her mouth opened to catch their attention but no sound left as her anxieties caught up with her. It wasn't relating to Ash, but Dawn. After the event this morning, she had no intentions of going near the bluenette. Unlucky for her, Ash happened to spot her. "Misty, come here!" he called, catching the attention of some other students though none of them paid attention for long.

Fearfully, Misty drew closer and took the only free seat. Right next to May and across from Dawn, who was sat next to Ash with Drew on his other side. Chatting across the table were Drew and May, as the brunette reached to feed the boy some of her rice with her chopsticks. Almost immediately after the rice landed inside of Drew's mouth, the Hoenn-descended girl noticed Misty and smiled. "Hey, Misty. How you doing after this morning, Ash said you went to the infirmary with a migraine. Are you alright now?"

"...'M...fine..." came the whispered response, near non-existent due to the low volume of her voice. Gently, she got out her lunchbox to show that she wasn't going to just sit there - she didn't want to worry Ash. And began to gently pick at it without paying much attention to her surroundings. Even after Ash started to look worried at her picking. Sighing, he gently took her spoon from her and gather a portion onto it. Gently he held it out for her, receiving a surprised look from the tangerine haired girl.

Slowly, she reluctantly listened to his quiet demands and took in the portion of food. However, it clearly didn't want to work with her stomach and she ran off the moment after swallowing it. With her hand covering her mouth. She even left her bag behind as she left the cafeteria. Tears leaked from her eyes, as she felt bile rise in her mouth and threatened to spew everywhere. But she held it back, thinking about the worried look she had seen on Ash's and May's faces before she had bolted off.

* * *

Arriving at the nearest bathroom, Misty ran in and finally chucked whatever was in her stomach out. It pained her to even attempt to throw up on little food and left her lightheaded, unable to focus with the bright light that burned on her forehead. In a pitifully attempt to block the light, she pushed the door close before vomiting again. Resting over the toilet, she stayed there for a little while with all of her effort going to just staying awake and not collapsed right there. Suddenly, she heard a soft pounding on the stall-door. Lifting her head up, she gave a low and pained reply to the pounding. "W-who...?"

"It's May," came the gentle, not forceful reply. Misty could almost picture May's face, white with worry and concern whilst looking absurd amongst her brown hair and brilliant red bandanna. "Are you alright?" Unable to formulate a reply that would come out without sounding weak, Misty just stayed quiet and rested her painful head on the door of his stall. Soon, she heard a sigh and another bang. "Come on, open the door. I want to check on you."

Despite knowing May couldn't see her, Misty gave a low nod and pulled the door open weakly. One look at her and May instantly put her hand on the girl's head. "No fever, thank goodness. Do you feel alright? Please answer."

Knowing that she couldn't lie realistically, she gave a low whisper of. "No..." a tear unwillingly left her eye, as she rested her head on May's chest. Noticing the stray tear, May gently rubbed the girl's back in attempt to comfort the sick girl.

Frowning to herself, May wondered what had caused the girl to be sick. As someone who loved to eat, she didn't understand how anyone could throw up on Delia's food. Continuing to gently rub the girl's back, she just let Misty decide what she wanted to do. Indeed, she was surprised when the girl gently removed May's hand from her back and stood up with a unsteady wobble. Despite her shaky leg, Misty walked towards the door of the bathroom and headed out without a word. May could only assume that she was heading to the classroom and it left her worried. With the way the tangerine haired girl looked - she shouldn't be going to class.

"Please be alright, Misty..."

* * *

Naturally, Ash was waiting for Misty to get home after school. Once she did, he was quick to ask. "So I heard from May that you were sick in the toilets, why didn't you go back to the infirmary..?" there was no malice in his voice, only concern. Concern for the girl that was his foster sister.

Despite knowing he was only concern, Misty shook in near fright. She knew people who could hide their emotions, so why not Ash? Opening her mouth, she wasn't surprised when no sound came out for a little while. Eventually, stutter-y and fearfully, she whispered in a low and near tearful voice. "I'm sorry...I...d-didn't want to...b-be a...b-b-burden.."

Sighing, Ash edged closer to the girl and brought her into an embrace that soon brought her to tears. "Shh, it's alright. You are not a burden, you have needs that every human does. When you're sick, please tell someone...or me at the very least..."

As he gently held her, she cried into his shoulder with various sobs containing the words '...Yes, I am...' and sickeningly '...'M...not...a..hu-...' she cut herself off, but it was obvious what she was about to say. This only brought her down into more tears, her arms shaking as if preparing to wrap them around the boy's neck so she could cry desperately into his shoulder. But something stopped her, embarrassment or something more? She didn't know and she wasn't prepared to find out. Pushing Ash away from her, she headed upstairs to her supposed bedroom to reunite with Togepi.

Ash watched, helplessly, as she walked off. He desperately wished to help her get through whatever she was going through, but she kept herself secluded and hidden within a shell. A shell with no clear openings, which left him worried as to how to open that shell to get to the true Misty and bring her back to the surface. Even if it took him years, he would succeed in bringing the girl back to the normal state. One where she didn't have to feel like she wasn't human.

Deciding to himself, he headed upstairs. Noticing that Misty hadn't closed the door properly behind herself, he gave a low sad smile and peered inside. In there, she was chatting with Togepi whilst holding a picture that he could barely make out. But it was evident what it was, for the picture had to be one of Misty's family. As she was printed on it, as a young toddler in the arms of her mother. Her mother, looking about 30, had a similar facial structure to her daughter and even shared the little girl's beautiful tangerine hair and viridian eyes. Next to her was obviously Misty's father, a tough-looking guy with a smirk from what Ash could see. And standing in front of them, three girls, all older then their sister, and sharing the same black hair with their father.

Truthfully, the family looked rather calm and held-together. But judging by the divorce he had heard about and Misty's mental state, it had to be far from such a concept. Shaking his head, he decided to listen in on Misty's conversation. He knew it was wrong, but any hint towards how to help her onto the right path would be helpful even if it was the 'wrong' way to go about collecting such information.

"...Togepi...that's my mom, you never met her but she was amazing..." a low sob rippled through Misty's voice as she said that to her baby, her finger pointing at her mother. Suddenly, her finger slided across the paper until it landed on her father. Misty's voice harshly stopped and she seemed to freeze into place, her voice catching in her throat and leaving her paralysed.

"Toge-toge!" Togepi suddenly called, shaking her mommy's leg in attempt to bring her back to reality. To Ash, it seemed like the baby Pokemon was well-adjusted to doing such an action. Something like this had to have happened before, leaving Misty terrified beyond belief and having her baby awaken her back to normal. Once Misty's eyes constricted back to normal, her breathing near even, she glanced down at her Pokemon and gave a small sad smile. It seemed to cheer up her Pokemon though, clearly too young to determine that the girl was truthfully sad. "Togeprii!" she called, leaping onto her mommy's lap.

Forcing himself not to sigh, Ash slowly walked away from the door as quietly as possible. Something about her father must have left the girl so terrified if she couldn't even look at a picture of him. But, wasn't family supposed to be the ones always there for you. To cheer you up when you were sad and calm you down when you get hurt? Clearly, this wasn't the case with Misty's family.

Sniffing the air, he caught the obvious sign of dinner. Ahh, he loved his mother's food and it would take his mind of the mystery of Misty's family for a little while. He could only hope that Misty would, or more likely could, eat the food prepared. Heading downstairs, his face was lit with a bright smile at the sight of the food that rested on the dining table. "CURRY!" he yelled, charging into his sight with a speed similar to Pikachu. Delia just sighed at her son's antics and went over to the stairs to call Misty down for food.

Despite already eating, Ash made note of Misty's solemn expression as she walked into the room - Togepi resting in her arms. Sitting down next to him, she just stared at the food in a non-responsive manner. It was pitiful to see her staring at such good food and not even attempting to eat it. From what he heard from May, it was quite likely that she was too terrified to eat in case of being sick again. Remembering that his method of feeding her solid food hadn't worked, he gently moved his spoon into the liquid-curry and blew on it to cool it down. Gently, he tapped Misty with his spare hand and placed the liquid food in front of her face.

Eyeing them was Delia, cautiously waiting to see what the tangerine haired girl would do. As for Misty, she was terrified to even attempt to eat again. Her stomach had become so used to eating so little, she knew it was bad and that it needed to stop. But the thought of being sick scared of even more, but she looked into Ash's chocolate eyes. His silent pleads brought tears to her eyes, causing her to violently shake. But...she gently moved forward and took the curry into her mouth. It wasn't too hot and it didn't instantly set off her gag-reflexes, but it wasn't long before it did.

Shuddering, she tried to hold it back and swallowed the curry along with the bile that her body attempted to bring up. Her face went pale and she leaned back in her chair, attempting to fight against her own body. She had to eat, she had to get something into the system. Being sick wouldn't help that. Looking down at the plate in front of her, she gave a low shudder and attempted some of the curry from her own plate. Mouthful after mouthful, forcing back to upcoming bile with every swallow. It was painful, but necessary in her eyes. Tears sparkled within her eyes, threatening to fall with every swallow she made.

Giving up after the fifth mouthful, she closed her eyes and let the tears roll. Suddenly, she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and the whisper of. "You gave it your best." A praise, something she certainly wasn't used to. Looking next to her, she saw Ash's comforting smile and felt her mouth twinge slightly in an attempt to replicate that smile.

* * *

That night, everyone had settled down for bed. But the sounds of crying and screams rolled in about midnight once again, obvious to Ash as to who them belonged to. However, unlike the night before, he wasn't going to sit around and wait for his mom to help the girl. He would help her himself. After all, he was her foster brother and thus they were family. Leaving his bedroom, he headed into Misty's room. Finding her huddled in, crying hysterically. Togepi trying to calm her down by any means possible and that included using Metronome to get Tickle.

Walking over, he knelt down and wrapped his arms around the girl. "Shh, it's alright..." It wasn't long before he received a look of surprise, but the girl was too shaken to truly look shocked and fell into his arms looking for comfort. Her sobs filled his ears and made his own tears threaten to fall, what had happened in her nightmare? Well, the better question would be 'what happened to her in the waking world that happened to pop up in her nightmare'? Approaching the topic carefully, he whispered into her ear. "What happened?..."

Nothing left Misty's mouth, she just shook her head and let more tears fall. She couldn't bring herself to tell him, to relive those memories outside of her dreams. Even with knowing that he'd help her, she just couldn't! Ash couldn't take it and let his tears fall. "Misty, I can't help you if you don't tell me..."

That seemed to cause something to snap as Misty's tears stopped, her eyes dilated and she suddenly, albeit weakly, pushed him away. "G-go...away..." she whispered, afraid that he would force her to say something she didn't feel comfortable with. She knew he never would, but that didn't stop her fears. "...Ash, please...just leave me alone..."

Deciding the respect her wishes, Ash left the room and came face-to-face with his mother. Delia had a look that spoke clearly 'its not your fault'. Giving him a sad smile, she asked gently. "I'm guessing she told you to go away?..."

"Yeah...mom, what happened to her?" he asked, desperately in worry for the girl's safety. He needed to know so he could protect her.

However, his mother just sighed and looked away. "It isn't my place to tell you,...it's Misty's. She'll tell you once she's comfortable, I'm sure of it," after saying that, she left to go comfort the crying girl and left Ash to his thoughts. He would help Misty, he had to. As her foster brother...as her...

Shaking his head, he couldn't let thoughts like that enter his head. Looking once again through the gap in the doorway, he saw Misty in the arms of his mother and gave a sad sigh before heading back to bed with the hope that Misty wouldn't suffer another nightmare in the same night - if she did sleep again, that was.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed.


	4. Building bonds (New chapter in rewrite)

Alright, chapter four! This is the first chapter that isn't one of the originals, so it won't be a 'rewrite' as such. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The next morning came quickly, Ash awoke with a start at the sound of vague sobbing coming from the next room. Feeling pity, he got up and peered into the girl's bedroom. She was sitting on the floor, grasping the battle with her hand as tears rolled down the face. Nearby Togepi stood, calling out to her. "Togeprii!" she called out to her mother, who picked her up and hugged her close. He nearly went in there to hug her, but he didn't want to surprise the girl.

Heading back to his room to get change, he glanced back to see Misty stepping out of the room. Shaking his head, he walked over to her and questioned. "I heard you crying, what happened?"

The fearful look that Misty's face was accompanied by was depressing, as she gently placed Togepi on the floor and closed her eyes as more tears leaked. Ash reached over to the girl, his hand landing on her shoulder. Jerking back, Misty's eyes opened wide and suddenly she backed away from Ash. "...I'm...sorry!" she suddenly yelled out, before running towards the bathroom. It was as if she had planned this, considering she had placed her baby on her floor.

"Ticku!" suddenly the fairy type yelled, attracting Ash's attention. She leapt towards the bathroom, gently hitting her little hands against the door. Yet it never opened as Ash could only assume that Misty wanted to be alone, even away from her own Pokemon. Walking over, he gently picked up the squirming baby. It was clear she wanted in there with her mommy, as she yelled again. "Toge-ticku!"

'Ticku'?...Wasn't that the sound that Togetic made, not Togepi. Was this evidence towards a potential evolution in the near future, as Togepi did evolve via friendship with its trainer. Was Togepi friendship with her mommy strong enough to allow her to evolve, or at least show signs of a near evolution. But right now, Ash was more concerned about the wiggling that the little Spike Ball was doing. "Togepi, stop. You might fall and hurt yourself. You don't want to worry your mommy, now do you?" he commented, trying to get the Pokemon to stop her squirming as he was loosely holding her at the present moment.

"Toge..." came the whimper, but the squirms stop. Moving around, Togepi suddenly hugged Ash in attempt to seek support. She looked confused and concerned, likely both emotions for her mother's situation. At the end of the day, it was highly likely that Togepi knew more than Ash regarding Misty's past. No baby should have to watch its mother cry, it wasn't right and Ash hoped to get Misty to relax one day and not push him away. Suddenly, the baby's face altered and a smile adorn on her face as she snuggled against Ash. "Prii..."

Seconds later and she was sleeping against his chest, seemingly calm. Had she not slept last night? Either way, he carried the little baby in his arm as he walked downstairs. When he reached the bottom step, he could have sworn he heard the bathroom door creak as its occupant crept out. It was near silent, so he couldn't be sure and he saw no sight of her. Weird since her bedroom was opposite the staircase and he should have been able to see her if she went in there. Sighing, he carried on into the kitchen and saw his mom already cooking breakfast. Smiling, the woman spotted the boy and the Togepi asleep in his arm. "Good morning, Ash. May I ask why you have Togepi?...Where's Misty?"

"I don't know what happened fully, but I think I upset Misty...I heard her crying and asked her what was wrong. But she ran into the bathroom, leaving Togepi on the floor. When I attempted to comfort this little one, she fell asleep on me..." he explained, gently snuggling the spike ball like she was his baby or something. Something clicked in him and it made him near nervous about Misty's reaction. What if Togepi saw him as her father? It was highly possible...it was very likely that Togepi had no actual father figure, so she would have imprinted on the nearest male connection to her mother. Which, despite their recent awkwardness, would be him...

"I see," Delia responded, handing out the boy's breakfast. It was just regular milk and cereal in a bowl, but it still looked pretty nice. "I'll go check on Misty, see if I can get her to come and eat. When your done, would you take Togepi outside. She likes to go play with Pikachu and Raichu whilst Misty is at school. They'll also look after her whilst she asleep."

Once Ash nodded, his mother left the room and her footsteps were heard as she walked upstairs. He ate gently, glancing down at the sleeping Pokemon in his other arm. She looked so peaceful, so innocent. He could totally understand why Misty babied the Pokemon, she was just so cute. A blush rolled onto his cheeks at his own thought process, was he actually beginning to think of himself as Togepi's daddy. But...he wasn't in a relationship with Misty...so that would be awkward. When he thought of the possibility of a relationship, he could only pause. Sure they were considered foster siblings, but...feelings can occur in the weirdest of places. Right?

Once he finished, he realised that his mother hadn't returned downstairs with his foster sister. He was, of course, worried, but he had to do what his mother requested and take the baby in his arms outside. Walking outside, he could see Pikachu and Raichu playing. They were having a small battle, with Pikachu clearly having the edge as he kept diving underground. Raichu wasn't able to keep up and soon fell over, he wasn't trained for battle and was merely a house pet after all. Ash gave a chuckle, having expected the result and walked over. "Morning, guys."

"Pika!" his Pokemon yipped, leaping onto his trainer's shoulder and nuzzling his cheeks. Though, truthfully, Ash was just glad Pikachu didn't have Nuzzle with the amount of times his electric sacs rubbed against his cheeks. Suddenly, Pikachu noticed Togepi and gave a smile. Reaching down, he licked the egg-like Pokemon's cheek, but she - luckily, Ash thought - stayed asleep.

Gently placing the infant down on the ground, he looked at the two electric types. "Don't wake her up yet, she only fell asleep a little while ago," the twin brothers nodded, smiling at the baby as they protectively curled into a circle around her. "Good boys," he complimented before heading back inside to gather his school stuff. He saw Misty at the top of the stairs, in the arms of his mother with a pale face. Her eyes redden from crying and under that, black bags that indicate her evident lack of sleep. A small sigh left his lips, before he yelled out. "See you later, mom," and left for school, not waiting for a reply.

* * *

Like always, he met up with May on the way. Today, the brown haired girl was on her own. No Skitty or any Pokemon in sight. Apparently she didn't have a Pokemon-related lesson today. "Just the normal stuff," she said as they walked together, looking almost bored at the idea. "I've been training Beautifly and Glaceon up for the competition. They cannot wait. Especially Glaceon, he was bounding all over the place when I mentioned it."

Chuckling, Ash nodded. "Pikachu knows about it too, though I haven't started training him yet. He basically knows what he's doing, I should only need to do a bit of training with him next week before the competition on Friday. He's quite excited, as he keeps battling with Raichu in their spare time. I caught them battling this morning when I-" he paused himself, feeling embarrassed at the thought of being the daddy to a Pokemon.

"Hmm..." May suddenly smirked and moved in front of Ash, causing him to stop. "When you what?"

Mildly blushing, Ash responded. "When I took Misty's Togepi out to them...," he adverted his gaze. "The little cut-one feel asleep in my arms after her mother left her on the floor before running off."

Chuckling for a second, May suddenly became serious. "Misty ran away from you? Why? What did you do to her?!" she seemed about ready to beat him up, as if implying that he, himself, had hurt myself or something. Though her intent was clear, she was worried about the girl. Almost as much as Ash was himself.

"Nothing," seeing May's hard gazing, he repeated with worried. "Seriously, nothing. From what I can gather, she didn't sleep last night and had been crying. When I asked her what was up, she just froze - like a deer in highlights - before putting Togepi down and running into the bathroom. Last I saw was before I left, being comforted by mom."

"I see..." the Hoenn girl whispered, seemingly in thought. Suddenly she smiled and clapped her hands together, clearly having an idea. "Guess I might have to cheer her up. Ya know, girl to girl chat."

Ash nodded in understanding, though he was worried. He trusted May sure, but he didn't want her accidentally hurting the poor girl - like he had last night and this morning. "Just...be careful. Anything might set her off..."

"Don't worry, she's in good hands," came the prideful response, May was confident and it did bring some of Ash's anxieties to a halt. Once they arrived at school, May looked around as if trying to spot Misty's limp tangerine hair. "There!" she suddenly yelled, running away from Ash and over to Misty. He watched from afar, as his childhood friend carefully spoke to Misty. "Hi, remember me?"

"M-may..." came the whispered, anxious response. Misty shivered, though she didn't run. Almost as if she was more comfortable around girls than boys. But when considering what he did know, that was understandable. Maybe it was stupid, Misty thought to himself, but she opened her mouth again in a weak attempt to say. "G-good morning..."

Gently putting an arm around the shy girl's shoulder, May smiled and brought Misty in for a hug. "Good morning, how are you feeling after yesterday." That question, it made Ash think to himself: was Misty going to run away like she did this morning or would she stay there, accepting May's embrace. Indeed, he was shocked when she stayed put in May's arms. Albeit limp and mute, but she stayed. Lucky for her, May didn't need a reply as she looked at Misty's still puffy, red eyes and darkened bags. "Looks like you didn't sleep much, was it a nightmare?"

"N..." Misty paused, reconsidering her answer. It was obvious to May, she couldn't lie - not even to herself. "...Yes..." and with that, she just left herself limp in her new friend's embrace. A new feeling arose in her, not one of love...but it felt like how she did whenever she was around her mother in her childhood. A family-like feeling. May...as family? It was an odd thought, sure, but the girl couldn't help it if she saw May as her sister.

Grimacing, May's embrace tightened and she spoke. "Come with me, we have some time before school. I wanna help you, so lets have a small chat about Pokemon and that to calm you down. You can't go to school in this state."

That statement gave Misty not space to actually disagree, so she weakly nodded and followed May after said girl removed her arms. They walked a reasonable distance away from the other students and sat down on one of the many benches that littered the school grounds. Normal for her, Misty stayed quiet as May began to speak. "I assume you are aware that there's a Pokemon competition coming up?"

"...I...heard you all mention it...yesterday..." as par usual, the quiet response weaved in after May finished her question. Misty was looking down at her hands, her eyes gazing over the faint, but notable, scars that destroyed her beautiful skin.

"Every student has to enter...and I heard from Ash that all you have is your Togepi. Am I correct?" once she received the low nod, May continued in a kind and respecting Misty's personal space. "So how about this, I lend you my Glaceon for the competition. I'll teach you how to handle him and in return, we can become friends. If you don't wish to, then I'm sure we can-"

Cut off by Misty's beautiful smile, though tears leaked in her eyes. "T-thank you, May...I was so worried about Togepi battling..."

"There we go, you have a smile on your face. Its real as well," grinned May, she was definitely glad to see the smile that Misty had adorn. Even if it vanished after she mentioned it. "It's a really beautiful smile, Misty. In fact, your pretty beautiful and cute as if. Any guy would love to date you."

"...S-stop it...no they won't," Misty replied, though she smiled a little at May's playful teasing. To be honest, she already had her eyes on a guy. One that she was sure would never love them back. After all, who could love someone they saw as family - even if there was no blood between them. Whilst she had a crush on him, Misty was also terrified of acting on her feelings as the only 'love' she was given was...her father's. Shaking her head, she got herself off the trail of thought before it brought bad memories to the surface. Whispering, she said. "He'll never...love me..."

Glancing at the girl, May had heard what she had said and began speculation. Who was the 'he' that the small, skinny girl had mentioned? Was it Ash. When she thought of it, it had to be as there was no other guy that Misty had met - besides Drew. But she decided to play stupid, not wanting to scare her friend away. "Hmm, did you say something?"

"N-nothing..."

Deciding to go off the topic to make the girl more comfortable, May questioned. "So, Misty. I'm assuming that you like fairy types, since you own Togepi?"

"...Maybe..." came the whisper, Misty gave a tiny smile. "To...be truthful,...I have more of a affinity for water type Pokemon..."

"Water types, like Vaporeon and Staryu?" came the reply, though May was shocked to see little tears work their way into Misty's eyes. Instantly regretting what she had said, May hugged the girl and yelled out in a worried tone. "I'm sorry, did I bring a bad memory up?" when she got a hesitated shake of the head, May knew that there was more to it but she didn't question anymore and decided to move onto her own affinity. "So, you have an affinity for water types. I...happen to have a family-based affinity for normal types. You see, my father's the normal gym leader from Hoenn and he gave me my Skitty and Munchlax in hopes that I'll continue his legacy. In simple terms, he wants me to become the gym leader in the future."

"...And...you don't want to?" came the reply, May would have complimented the girl for catching on fast but she realised it was quite obvious.

Suddenly the bell chimed to indicate start of class, stopping May's attempt of replying. The girls glanced at each other, realising in an instant that they didn't share their first lesson. So they said their goodbyes, or more 'see you later', and left to go to class. As she walked through the hallway of the school, a small smile wormed on top Misty's face. She had a friend, one that she wasn't having much trouble talking to. But...happiness can only last so long, right?

* * *

This was supposed to just be a cute little chapter for you, hope you enjoy. Next chapter will also be a new one,...in fact most of the upcoming chapters are new in the story. It'll probably be about chapter 7 before we get back to the rewrite part of this story.


	5. Shopping and stories (New chapter)

Hey, minna! Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Glancing down the thermometer in her hand, Delia sighed and rested a hand on Misty's head. "You definitely have a fever, poor girl. How have you been faring in the nights?" it was Thursday morning and Misty have awoken, well from a majorly sleepless night, with a pale face, flushed cheeks and heavy breathing. It was obvious that something was up when Delia saw her and placed her hand on the sleepy girl's forehead.

"...Not...well..." came the weak reply, as the poor girl struggled to keep her eyes open. One, she didn't want to be rude and fall asleep whilst talking...and two, she didn't want to go back into dream land so soon after the last nightmare.

"Alright, I'll keep you off for today. It gives me chance to sort something that I've been needing to do," she glanced around the room, it was so barren and wasn't homely. Misty needed a bed and some items to call her own, not just a handful of uncomfortable blankets. When she thought about it, it was no wonder that Misty had gotten a mild flu with sleeping on the wooden floor all the time. "Do you think you'd be up to going shopping with me after a nap?"

Thinking about it, Misty gave a low nod. She could see where Delia was coming from in the talk of shopping. Truthfully, she didn't like to go shop much as she wasn't particular girly. Someone like Dawn would enjoy the concept of shopping more, she just knew it. But the thought of spending an indefinite amount of time sleeping on the floor wasn't something she wanted. Settling down amongst the blanket, she gave one last look at Delia and whispered. "...I-is it alright if I go to sleep...?"

"Sure thing, sweetie. Just call me if you have a nightmare," Delia commented, smiling down at the shy girl. As she left the room, she saw Misty closed her eyes and snuggle amongst the blanket. Togepi was curled up next to her, the Spike Ball's head tucked within her egg shell. "Have a good sleep..."

* * *

Ash left for school, leaving Delia to herself and the two Pokemon to enter and left the house at will. Deciding to clean, she got out the vacuum pet and sighed in exasperation as Raichu, who had been sitting on the sofa, leapt a mile in the air and suddenly hit the vacuum with a pathetic Thunder Shock. "Raichu, you know the the robot have to clean. Go outside!"

"Rai..." came the complaint, as the Pokemon glared at the vacuum before trotted outside. Pikachu was at the Chu-flap and blinked when he saw his older twin brother leave through the flap. Though it wasn't long before he too saw the vacuum, though had a completely different reaction. Leaping over, he began to sit on the vacuum and seemed to giggle as it moved across the floor with him still on it.

"Geez, you Pokemon are weird," Delia commented, watching as Pikachu stayed perched on the vacuum as it worked to clean up the living room rug. Looking up, she glanced at the time. It was nearly noon, and when she had planned to awaken Misty from her nap. She could only be glad that the girl hadn't scream out from a nightma- as if on cue, a scream rippled through the house and was followed as intense crying from two different sources. Delia hurried upstairs and saw Misty, in full on panic mode. "Relax, Misty. He isn't going to harm you, you're safe here..."

"..Miss Delia...it felt...real, he hurt...me like he used to..." came the sob, as Misty shook as she hugged herself. But her breathing eventually evened out as Delia spoke calming words in her ear, she glanced down at Togepi and picked up the baby Pokemon. Hugging her Pokemon close, she gave one last sob and revealed the contents of her dream. "He...r-r-r..." shaking her head, she knew Delia knew what she meant.

"Don't you worry, Misty. He doesn't know where you are, you are perfectly save here..." even if she said that, Delia could never be 100%. She knew that Ash needed to know, to keep an eye on Misty when she couldn't. But Misty was adamant, that she would only tell him when she was prepared and able. "How do you feel anyway, still feel rough?..."

Silence rang for a short while, before Misty lifted her head and shook it. It was truthful, she did feel quite a bit better as she had managed to get at least 2 hours sleep in before her nightmare struck. Delia seemed and gave a short whisper of 'good' as she stroked the girl's hair in attempt to relax her. "Lets get going, you can relax whilst we're shopping."

"A-alright, Miss Delia..."

* * *

They arrived at the shopping center not long after, it was a large place that brought fright and amazement into Misty's eyes at the same time. On one side, she looked ready to run and hide...but on the other, she looked stunned and unable to move in awe. Delia gave a low chuckle at the expression of Misty's face and walked up to her, tapping the girl's shoulder. "Lets go to the clothing section first, you only had 3 pairs of clothes when you first started living with us and that's not enough for a girl of your age. A 14 year old should have a whole closet full of clothes, not just 3 sets.."

"...I...don't really like clothes shopping..." admitted Misty, in her childhood she had been considered a tomboy. Her sisters hated her as she would always ruin her clothes and come home dirty, she loved to play football and was always playing fetch with her Eevee. Suddenly, her thoughts paused on the idea of Eevee. It had been years since her beloved Pokemon had died...and yet she could never let go of the thought. It had been the beginning of her slow descent out of her tomboyish personality, even if traces remained.

"Well, its not really a matter of liking it so much. It's more finding some more clothes for you to wear besides your uniform," explained the foster mom, smiling down at the teen. "Just look around and tell me if you spot anything you like."

Despite that being said, Misty looked uncertain and just walked around aimlessly. Even if she spotted an item of clothing that she particularly liked, she didn't say anything as she felt like she would be a burden if she did. But one piece of clothing caught her attention more than the rest, it was a dress that was decorated with Togepi's patterns on. Since she was a proud mother to a Togepi, it felt like such an item would be normal for her. With the item was a set of hair-bows, one red and one blue in the theme of Togekiss's ruby and sapphire spikes. Her voice hitched in her throat, she wanted this item even if it seemed petty and stupid.

Delia walked back towards the girl, noticing she wasn't following anymore and spotted Misty gazing intently at the dress. Smiling, she walked over and said. "Do you like that dress?"

"I..." she nearly lied and said 'she didn't, but she couldn't think like that. Ash and May had both told her that 'your not a burden', she had to stop thinking that even if it was hard. "...I...do..." she eventually finished, her voice unsure and tainted with worry.

Seeming to pick up on the worry, Delia's smile grew softer. "Lets buy it than, you could wear it on Saturday when me and Ash take you on our fortnightly night out to the local dinner."

"F-fortnightly night out?..." whispered Misty, it was the first she had heard of this.

"Oh, I hadn't mentioned it yet. Well, its the only time that me and Ash can see his father since he's quite busy as the Johto League champion," came the smiled response from the middle-aged woman, as she picked up the dress and ribbons that Misty had been gazing at. "Come on, we have a lot more to get."

As Misty followed silently behind her foster mother, she thought to herself. ' _Ash's father is a...league champion?...As in really strong in Pokemon battles...wonder if that means Ash is also strong. His Pikachu seems quite powerful..._ ' she wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not, as she glanced down at Togepi. The little baby was squeaking adorable, bringing a smile to her mommy's face and well as a simple thought. ' _Guess somebody has to be happy...wonder what she thought of the dress?_ '

"Misty," the call of her name snapped her from her thoughts, causing her to look up. In front of her was Delia, holding a clothes set. It had a yellow sleeveless tank top that was short and wouldn't cover her belly button, covered by a pair of red suspenders that attached blue denim shorts that would stop at her thighs if she was wearing them. "How do these look, there's even shoes to go with them," and suddenly the shoes were on show too, they were red sneakers with yellow highlights and white laces.

Voice hitching in her thought, Misty wasn't sure on what to say. The outfit was very reminiscent of the time she was a tomboy and thus brought her very close to saying she wanted the outfit, but at the same time her trauma came back. The reason she stopped wearing such clothes...was because she was forced to, until she stopped naturally. ' _"A girl should never wear such clothes, Misty...my little pet. Your a woman now, stop wearing such childish wear..._ _",_ ' that line repeated in her head, a line that left her near panicked.

"How about this, you try it on and we'll see?" Delia said, noticing Misty's oncoming panic. She putted at a nearby try-on booth and handed the clothes and shoes to the girl. "Just do it, don't think about your past. You are who you are, don't let other people dictate what you want."

Listening to her foster mother, Misty handed Togepi to Delia and took in a breath of air as the little Pokemon tilted her spikes. "Toto?" she spoke out her version of 'mommy'.

"I'm alright, Togepi..." came the whisper, before Misty walked over to the changing room. Minutes later, she exited the room with the clothes on. Her breathing was heavy and she had dilated pupils, but she was trying to keep herself calm. "...H-how do I look?..."

Delia smiled, walking over to the girl and putting her spare hand on the girl's shoulder. "You look perfect, no matter what you wear. Misty, don't put yourself down. I knew those clothes suited you when I saw them, so I had to get you to put them on." Looking down at herself, Misty felt...more normal in these clothes. Taking Togepi off her foster mom, she held the Pokemon to her near-flat chest and felt natural as she smiled mostly to herself. "See, your look like you'd be off on a Pokemon journey in that. I'm sure that once all of this has past and your old enough, you'd be sure to go on one. As the daughter of the Cerulean gym leader, it would not only be your destiny but also your wish. Am I right?"

Misty blinked but gave a low, teary nod. She had always wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps and one day she planned to go on a journey. But...she couldn't whilst she was this terrified. "..T-thank you..."

After this little exchange and Misty changing back into her regular clothes, the pair continued their walk around the clothing section and picked up a few more items and accessories. They moved onto, after this, to a more woodwork part of the shopping center. There was bed and everything lined up. Delia already had a list of items, it was just finding ones that were cheap and in Misty's style. Once the list was complete, they brought the items and set the delivery time for later in the afternoon. The store keeper even mentioned that they'd be willing to put the items in place for slightly more money, which Delia was quick to give as she knew that herself and Ash couldn't do such heavy lifting.

Checking the time, Delia decided it was time to get some lunch and headed to the nearby canteen with Misty following silently behind. Luckily the place also served for Poke-pets, so Togepi was able to get something as well. Specially blended Pokemon milk, strawberry flavoured, which Misty spent a good 5 minutes giving to her baby without even looking at her own food - which was just a bowl of soup. Eventually she did look at it and glanced up at Delia, who sat at the other side of the table from her and Togepi - the baby Pokemon was sat in a high chair. Slowly, she began to take the soup in and also hold back her upcoming bile. It was so painful and burned her throat, but it didn't to be done to actually get something in her system again.

"If you need to be sick, don't hold it back..." Delia said, noticing the obvious pain the girl was in.

"B-but...in such a public place," Misty responded, after swallowing another spoonful of soup and bile. She looked down, shaking visibly at the thought of being sick in front of everyone in the canteen. "...I just can't..."

"...Just be careful, you could make yourself worse..."

"I won't...I promise..." even though it was a empty promise, how could such a weak girl make such a promise...

* * *

That night was when it hit, she suddenly felt really weak. Her head swam and she couldn't settle down. Not to mention, she had also awoke from another nightmare and had to hold in her scream. Being as quietly as possible, she got off her new bed and glanced over to Togepi's new crib. The baby Pokemon was fast asleep, having not been disturbed by a potential scream. She was glad, Togepi shouldn't have to suffer limited sleep like she did. Leaving her room, she slowly crept into the bathroom and within seconds was chucking her guts up.

More and more bile left her lips, until she felt somebody rubbing on her back. Expecting Delia, she was surprised to see Ash gently rubbing her back. But then she remembered that her room was right next doors to Ash's, and she did creak her door quite a bit despite trying hard not to. Looking back down weakly, she collapsed to the floor from her formerly standing position. No more bile was in her throat, but she felt ridiculously weak.

"Ash..." she whispered, resting on his chest after he adjusted himself for her. "...Take me back to bed...please..."

Smiling gently, Ash nodded and lifted her up bridal-style. Even though he had held her before, he was still surprised by her light weight and delicate frame. He was afraid he might drop her and she'd shatter into pieces with every moment he made. He headed to her bedroom and rested her down, gently, onto the mattress before tucking her in. He was about to leave, when suddenly he was grabbed the arm by a embarrassed looking Misty. "S-stay with me...a-at until I fall asleep..."

The raven haired boy chuckle, Misty looked really adorable when she had a blush adorn on her expression. "Alright, I'll stay," he commented, sitting down at the base of her bed. He watched as Misty closed her eyes, but they suddenly shot open as if remembering something. "Is something wrong?..." he had almost been afraid to ask, considering what had happened before.

"A-ash...look..." gently she reached out and actually let him look carefully at the three pale scars that gleamed on her skin. Sadly, she closed her eyes and let a little tear drop before whispering. "...Bet your wondering what happened?..."

Nodding his head, he was surprised to see that she looked willing to explain. "...Of course," he commented, though he looked worried. "If...you don't want to tell me, you don't have to..."

"I-it's alright...you deserve to know...besides, it links to a question you asked...me...nights back..."

* * *

 _Two years prior, Misty was more cheerful and bold most of the time. But...something had happened, and now she was wandering through the streets of Cerulean city with tears streaming down her face. Even as a 12 year old, she was quite childish and that was understandable considering how she was the baby of the family. 3 older sisters, all 4 or more years older than herself. Eventually she found herself at the nearby forest, whimpering a little as she felt a pain coming from below. Glancing down, she saw blood rolling down her cheeks and more tears whelmed up in her eyes before rolling down her cheeks._

 _Sure it hadn't been the first time, but it was time she had enough of the way she was treated. Sneaking out of the house, a knife in one hand and a picture of her family in the other. She...planned to end it all right then and there in that forest, away from civilisation. Finding a good enough spot, she rested against a tree and glanced at the knife. She was quite smart and she knew exactly where to cut to do damage, so she started to apply the sharp blade onto her wrist. A little more pressure was added every second, as blood clotted and began to roll down._

 _But suddenly a rustle reached her eyes and she glanced, the knife remaining in place, in the direction of the sound. Now rolling towards her was a Pokemon egg, with bright red and blue patches adorning the shell. Misty knew this forest well, she knew every single Pokemon that lived in this forest and the patterns that their eggs produced would have. This one...didn't look like any egg she had seen before._

 _The egg came to a stop before her, bringing surprise to the young pre-teen's face. The egg suddenly shook, was it going to hatch soon. She tried to think back to her lessons in class. Pokemon eggs would start shaking first and then maybe start to glow and make noises before it hatched. This egg was in the second stage, so it couldn't be far off from hatching. What could she do, she saw no parents around and she couldn't leave a baby Pokemon alone._

 _Reaching over, her hand touched the shell of the egg and was surprised by how warm it was. There was definitely a Pokemon within the egg, and she was surprised when it suddenly began to glow. Third stage, so soon after it began to shake? Did her touch begin something...? Seconds later, a crack ripped into the peak of the egg and began to trail down the side of the shell. One crack at a time, until psychic waves rolled off the shell. The top ripped off the egg, as little spikes emerged. A little hand peeked out of two holes in the side of the shell, along with a pair of teeny feet from the base._

 _A Togepi? She had heard of this Pokemon, the Spike Ball that loved to store happiness within its shell and later distribute it to everyone. Happiness...how she wished she had that. Suddenly she saw the little Pokemon's brown eyes gazing at her, before she heard a loud. "Toto!" as the little one began to toddled towards her, grabbing at her leg and hugging it. Did this Pokemon think she was its mother? Must be the case, baby Pokemon were known to imprint on the first thing they saw and think of it as their mother._

* * *

"Later...I discovered Togepi was female...and captured her with the help of my older sister, Daisy...though I never have her in her poke ball," she whispered, pulling a ball out of a nearby drawer. It wasn't the regular poke ball design, it was a Love Ball and the shy girl smiled at it. Despite this smile, tears rolled into her eyes as she looked at Ash. "I-if...it wasn't for Togepi hatching...I wouldn't be here...I would have died, alone, in that forest..."

' _I would have died..._ ' that line repeated in Ash's head, he was shocked to hear that those scars of Misty's wrists were intentional. Though her story only explained one and it didn't even reveal what had happened to her that lead to her suicide attempt. Where did the other scars come from...and what had happened to her?

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. Not used to doing flashback scenes, but I think it adds more to the story. And no, there will be no 'Rape' flashback scenes as I'm too young to write such content. Hell, I don't even think an adult should write things like that.


	6. Night out (New chapter in rewrite)

With last chapter being important in the start of explaining Mist's past, I decided to give this little gem: A chapter with heart, but also story progressive. Oh and I'm skipping Friday in the timeline. Why will become clear soon.

* * *

Saturday came and the Ketchum family was awake, preparing to go out for their fortnightly night out. Misty was sat in her room, looking worried as she wasn't a part of the family and from what she had heard - Mr Ketchum was joining them. Lucky for her that the Pokemon were allowed to come, so she was taking Togepi as her comfort tactic. Even though that sounded kinda cruel, Togepi herself knew that she was Misty's only real reason to remain alive. Though, both trainer and Pokemon knew that there was another reason starting to build even if it scared Misty.

Hugging Togepi after getting changed into the dress she had brought 2 days prior, Misty headed downstairs in silence. Ash and Delia were already in the living room, Pikachu sitting on his trainer's shoulder and Raichu sitting lazily in the corner with a collar and leash around his neck. She was about to ask, but decided the reason probably was obvious since the evolved electric type was the family's pet and he didn't seem to mind anyway. Delia walked over to Misty, smiling at the dress. "Good morning, sweetie. You look cute like that."

Looking over, Ash grinned at Misty's appearance. Her hair was tied back into messy, near tomboyish pigtails and her dress fit her rather skinny frame. Sure, she had started to build up some weight as she had started to be able to eat solids over the last 2 days. It was lucky really that she was starting to eat, as Misty thought she'd be a burden on the family if they went out and all she did was stare at the food. "Looking good, Mist," he commented, earning himself a blush from the girl.

"T-thanks..." came the whisper after Misty brought herself together, she held Togepi close to her chest as she adverted her gaze from Ash's. "Ash..., where...are we going anyway..."

"Oh, just a nearby restaurant. Drew's family owns it, so you'll see him and likely May there," he explained, smiling and walking over to the girl. He knelt down to Togepi and grinned. "Looks like it'll be her first night out!.."

"M-mine as well..." a low whisper, almost inaudible, but Ash caught it and smiled.

Before Ash could say anything, Delia walked over with Raichu's leash in hand. "Lets get going then. Ash, I just got a message from your father and he said he's already at the restaurant, waiting for us to get there. He brought some of his Pokemon with him, including your Charizard."

"Cool! I get to see Charizard again," the 14 year old yelled in a high pitched voice that surprised Misty, though that wasn't the only reason for the surprise look on her face. Ash had a Charizard and hadn't mentioned anything? Glancing at his foster sister, Ash lowered his volume and explained. "Yes, Misty. I have a Charizard, though dad looks after him since I'm too young really to handle such a high leveled Pokemon. Plus, dad doesn't have a sixth Pokemon so he borrows Charizard to complete his team."

"...I see..." Misty whispered, hugging Togepi close. She was near scared to meet Charizard, as it was a powerful fire/flying type that looked very similar to a dragon of all things. It would be...an interesting and frightening experience to her. Though looking at Ash, he seemed excited to reunite with his Pokemon so maybe...she could hide her feelings to keep him happy.

"Hey, mom. Did he say who else he was bringing?" Ash said, excited as they headed towards the front door.

"Hmm, I think he mentioned Espeon and Umbreon," Delia replied as they got into the taxi, Misty was surprised to hear two of Eevee's evolutions mentioned since most trainers only ever have one due to them being so rare.

But this only seemed to increase Ash's excitement. "Cool!" it seemed like he knew these two Pokemon really well, as he soon explained to Misty. "Espeon and Umbreon are a pair of twins that my father raised from hatching, I was about 4 when they were born. Even before I got my Pichu, so I was raised amongst them whenever dad was home. Espeon, the female of the pair, is a motherly type that has raised a couple of Eevee in her life and Umbreon, the male, is a cool and calm type that only shows aggression in battle. Oh and Umbreon's also happens to be unique, being that he had blue rings instead of yellow."

Misty nodded, knowing how special a bond could be when you were around the hatching of a Pokemon. Seeing as she had, unintentionally, hatched her Togepi. This thought lead her to smiling down at Togepi and ruffling the little one's spikes gently. Though Togepi wasn't the only Pokemon she had hatched, she had also hatched her own Eevee. She didn't like thinking about that though since she had died...very early. She stayed quiet for the rest of the journey, watching the scenery go by with intrigue.

"We're here, Mist!" Ash yelled, leaping out of the car with Pikachu charging behind with a loud 'Pika!'. Misty looked up at him and giggled, smiling as she got out of the taxi. Togepi squealed in delight, causing Misty to look at the restaurant. It was a simple wooden building with a warm feeling radiating off it, it was almost family like. Moving back over to her, Ash grinned. "It looks amazing right. We come here every other weekend."

"Ash, you're as energetic as ever," came an adult male voice, catching the attention of Ash. Walking over to them was a older man, similar looking to Ash, but with bright red eyes as opposed to Ash's chocolate. Walking beside him was an Espeon and Umbreon, both looking relaxed.

"Dad!" came the expected yell, as Ash ran up to fist-bump his father. "Where's Charizard?" once this was asked, a pokeball was dropped into his hand. With a large grin, Ash sent to the fire type out of its ball and ran up to hug it. "Charizard!" he yelled, when suddenly a flamethrower hits his face causing a gasp to escape from Misty's mouth as his mother and father just laughed. Coughing, Ash managed to chuckle. "Flamethrower as always..."

"Ash...!" Misty squeaked, running over with concern. "A-are you alright!"

Despite being surprised by her sudden, stuttered, yell, Ash just laughed. "Yah, I'm absolutely fine. Charizard always greets me like that, he's a bit of a over-lover. He flamethrowers me to show he cares. Ain't that right, boy?"

"Gao!" came the loud roar that caused Misty to back with, nervously. Suddenly the fire type noticed Misty and seemed to sniff her, before deciding he liked her - though also deciding that it was best not to flamethrower her as well, considering her terrified nature.

Spotting the two eeveelutions, Ash smiled and went to hug the twins. "Espeon, Umbreon. It's good to see you two!"

"Espy," "Eon," came the dual response from the psychic and dark types respectively. Both of them seemed happy to see Ash, as they nuzzled against him. Suddenly Espeon's eyes glowed blue as she lifted Ash up into the air, causing him to gasp in surprise before laugh. He did enjoy being levitated by psychic. Umbreon suddenly joined in by using shadow ball to create a light show in the air, that made Togepi gasp in enjoyment as Misty looked surprise. Even more surprised she became when Togepi suddenly used psychic to lift everyone up.

"Wait, I know Espeon's got me. So who's levitating every one else?" Ash gasped, looking at Espeon who herself looked shocked. He hadn't noticed yet that Togepi's eyes were glowing blue, though Misty certainly had and was terrified of what people would think. Once he did noticed, he was understandable shocked to see the little fairy type's powers. "Misty, is that...Togepi's work?"

"S-sorry...I'm sorry!..." gasped the tiny girl, as she shook Togepi. "I'll...get her to stop..." she waited, shaking the little Pokemon in her arms until Togepi got the idea and stopped using psychic. Of course, they hit the floor painfully. Whimpering, Misty pulled herself up and half-glared at the Pokemon. Ash walked over, having been let out of Espeon's magic himself and helped Misty.

"Hey, it's alright. She's only a baby, she probably doesn't understand how powerful Psychic is..." Ash commented, before glancing at the restaurant. He smiled brightly. "Alright, lets head inside to get something to eat!"

"...Okay..." came the whisper, as Ash's parents nodded their heads and headed inside with the two teens plus the Pokemon. Finding a table, everyone sat down and Misty stayed quiet whilst glancing at Togepi - who was sitting in a highchair again - wearily. Breathing slowly, she looked around the table and her eyes eventually landed on Ash's, who smiled at her.

"So, your name is Misty?" she looked up to see Ash's father smiling at her. "My wife here told me about you, so I was interested to meet you and your Togepi. You seem quite quiet, though," when he said this, Misty looked away nervously. "As for me, my name is Red Ketchum. You probably know already that I happen to be the champion from the Johto region, but I'm not going to boast about my battling. You know, when I saw your Togepi use psychic, I almost thought you were used to battling but then you looked so scared that I knew that wasn't the case."

"...I'm sorry...f-for giving you the w-wrong idea..." whispered Misty, glancing at Togepi. "...When Togepi hatched...s-she had Psychic a-almost instantly...but I don't know where it came f-from..."

"It's quite alright, child," Red commented, smiling down at the youngster. "You're too young to be a true battler, I'm sure that one day you'll manage."

Nodding, Misty decided to say no more. She was a bit nervous around the older man to be honest, but it wasn't due to him specifically. After that, their food came and she began to slowly eat the food she asked for: which was just a normal plate of chips and beans since she could manage to hold it down. After finishing her plate, she decided to excuse herself to the toilet. As for left, she picked up Togepi and walked away from the table with her untied hair draped over her eyes. Unknowing to her, May and Drew were watching her from the front of the restaurant.

She entered the bathroom a few minutes later, after hopelessly wandering around trying to find it. Truthfully, she didn't need the toilet or even need to throw up her dinner. She just wanted to relax her nerves from talking to Red. Glancing into the mirror, she looked at the pigtails that she had tied herself into with the mix-match ribbons. It felt weird to have her hair up in pigtails after so long, gently she reached up and tugged on one of the ribbons until it fell out. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of a lop-sided ponytail she was left with. Shaking her head, she quickly tied the other pigtail back up as the bathroom door opened. She, a little scared, glanced over to it and saw May there. "M-may?..."

"Don't worry, nobody else is coming on," May commented, walking over to Misty, with a smile on her face. "Me and Drew were hanging out together, whilst his parents watched the restaurant. We happened to spot you leave your table and I decided to check on you to make sure you were alright."

"...'M fine," Misty replied, placing Togepi next to the sink and letting May pull her into a quick hug. "...I...just get a little nervous...around older men...so seeing Ash's father...um.."

"I understand, it must have been a little stressful for you," the other girl nodded her head, deciding against asking Misty why she was nervous around adult men: as many people had random fears and anxieties. Instead, she moved off the topic and looked at Misty's dress combined with the pigtails. "You look adorable like that, even more befitting of a girl who's the mother to a Togepi." Staying silent, Misty's frown uplifted a little until a smile as she watched May moved towards Togepi in the effort to introduce herself. "So this is your Togepi, she definitely looks adorable."

"...I'm sure...there's more cuter Pokemon...like your Skitty," commented Misty, even though she personally loved her Togepi. She just wanted to be modest and at the end of the day, Togepi was a bit more of a grey area to herself. She loved the Pokemon, truly she did...but the fact that the Pokemon prevented one of her suicide attempts had left her more anxious around the Pokemon than she should be.

"Don't be so modest, you're her mother for crying out loud," May responded, seemingly shocked by Misty's attitude. "If anyone should be calling her adorable and cute, it should be you!"

Surprised, Misty took a step back and glanced at Togepi. Soon tears wormed into her eyes, she hadn't be doing this motherly thing right... "...I'm sorry...Togepi..." she whimpered, falling to her knees as tears gushed down her face. "...It's not your fault...it's mine, for...not loving you properly..."

"Toto!" cried her Pokemon, leaping off the counter to the surprise of both of them as they thought she become injured. But instead, a pair of angelic wings burst out of her shell as little cracks emerged around the spots. Another sign to her potential evolution, though it was clear she wasn't truly evolving just yet. As this happened, Togepi's little arms flew outwards and she hugged onto Misty's chest. It was clear she didn't blame her mommy for anything.

"See, Misty. She doesn't blame you, you head's all messed up from whatever you went through," May smiled, suddenly grasping ahold of Misty's scarred wrist. "Whatever caused these injuries isn't your fault, even if you may have placed the knife to your own hand. Just because you may have suicidal tendencies, doesn't mean you are to blame. It's whoever made you so depressed."

"May..." Misty's low voice breathed out as she looked up at the other girl, dried tears sticking to her cheeks. Suddenly she felt a hand rubbing away those tears and she half-forced a smile onto her face. "...Thank you..." she stood up and placed her arm around her baby's back, being mindful of the wings. Trying to be confident, she gently let herself hug May and then moved back. "I'm...going to be brave...and go back there..."

"That's a good girl, you need to work towards recovery and hope that nothing like these happen again," came the reply as May let go of her friend's wrist and let her leave the bathroom. After Misty left, she smiled and said. "Please recover from whatever happened, Misty. Your smile is really pretty and it'd be nice to see more of it."

* * *

As Misty walked back to the table, her eyes locked onto a sight she didn't want to see. Freezing on the spot, panic building and attempting to burst out of her. Her eyes diluted and her breathing quickened, her mouth left dry as she tried to tell herself that what she was seeing wasn't there. For standing mere metres away from her was a sight she wished never to see again, it was her father in flesh. Even though she thought he was in jail. Her throat burned, a scream working its way out of her - but she didn't want to alert him to her presence.

"Pikachupi!" she suddenly heard and told to see Ash walking up to her, with Pikachu running in front of him and climbing onto her shoulder. Trying to relax herself, she forced her breathing back to normal and tried to act like nothing was bothering her.

Unfortunately, Ash saw straight through her attempted act and placed a hand on her free shoulder. "Is something wrong, Misty. You seem scared of something?" he turned in the direction she was looking, but saw nothing of note. "Is someone there that you know?"

"...N-no...just my imagination," Misty commented, noticing that her father wasn't there anymore. Maybe...it was her imagination, even though it didn't mean her anxieties were lessened. Suddenly, she heard the sound of Togepi calling to her and gasped down at the Pokemon to see a small comforting smile on the baby's face. Yes, it had to be her imagination. Togepi wouldn't be smiling if that wasn't the case, since the Pokemon was as scared of her father as she was.

"If you say so," Ash commented, before taking the fairy type off her hands. Though, he soon looked quite shocked when he spotted the little wings that were on the baby's back. Looking at his foster sister, he asked in a gentle voice. "When did these appear?"

"...Only a little while back..." Misty explained, not wanting to go into detail on what had happened. "...S-she just grew wings all of a sudden..."

"...I wonder if its a sign that she'll evolve soon?" Ash realised, remember how Togepi had also started, in some instances, speaking like her evolution form would. It could all lead to the idea that the baby may soon evolve, especially now that she had the wings of her evolution. Could she really be considered just a pure fairy type now, or was she a fairy/flying like her evolved forms.

"Toge-ticku?" came the confused whisper from the Pokemon as she looked up at her daddy figure, she didn't understand what he was talking about. But suddenly a smile worked onto her face as she booped his nose. "Togeto!"

Confused, Ash looked at the baby and then at Misty. The girl was baring a blush on her face, like she understood what the baby had just said. Maybe she did, he understood Pikachu's speech after all. "...Misty, what did Togepi just call me?"

"...W-well...um...uh..." the blush only grew darker, until its owner finally blurted out what the little Pokemon had said. "S-she called you 'Daddy'..."

"D-d-daddy?!" came the startled response as Ash looked at the little baby, seeing a confused and near worried look on the baby. Bouncing Togepi a little, he decided to play along. "S-so she thinks I'm her daddy...but what does she think that makes us?..."

"...I-I..." there was no response, just a blushing Misty to look at as she stammered and stumbled on her words. Her baby was calling a boy 'daddy', and that boy was her foster brother. It left her confused and unsure, panicked nearly.

"Misty, Ash. We're leaving now," suddenly Delia's voice rang over their uncertainty. She walked over with Raichu trying to bite his leash off, but being such a strong Pokemon it wasn't safe for him not to have the electricity-proof collar on. Even Pikachu was wearing one, as Misty noticed from the close-contact with the small, yellow Pokemon. "Red just got a call and had to head back to Johto and he said to say he was sorry for not saying goodbye."

"It's alright, mom. I know he means well," Ash replied, before turning to Misty. "Looks like its time to head home," he didn't hand Togepi back and didn't request for Pikachu to lunge onto his shoulder, so any passerby would have could have easily assumed that the Pokemon's ownership was how it appeared. But neither really minded, they were still too embarrassed over the whole 'Ash is Togepi's daddy' thing.

* * *

Not long after midnight that night, Misty's easily recognisable scream rang through the walls of the house and alerted Ash as he rang into her room. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear. "What's wrong. What did you see in your nightmare..." whilst he was whispering, his mother entered the room and watched the pair carefully to see what was going to happen.

"A-ash...I..." sighing, Misty finally decided what she had to do. Breathing heavily, she looked up at the boy and whispered in a frightened low voice. "...I'll tell you...everything...," despite saying that, she still looked very nervous and pressured. But she had to do this, he did deserve to understand what she going through. Especially now that her feelings for him were...slowly and surely...growing.

* * *

And cliffhanger, hope you enjoyed. At least now the next chapter makes somewhat sense.


	7. Nightmarish past (Rewritten)

Shakily, Misty grasped onto Ash's arm for support as she began her tale. It was slow at first, as if she was trying to recount the events in her head with the difficulty of the fact she wished to not recall such memories. "...I was 8 when my parents split up...they had been fighting for years...and it just came to a close..." she looked up with mild fear in her eyes, as the memory flashed through her head.

* * *

"Mama, papa?" a much younger Misty whimpered as she glanced around the door frame at her arguing parents, she was worried about them. Her mother was yelling things like 'cheater' and 'drunk', words that the little girl didn't understand at the time and wished she never had learnt. On the other end, her father kept saying some bad words like 'slut' and 'bitch', things that her sisters had always told her never to use.

"Misty...come away from there," her oldest sister, Daisy, said as she pulled the little tangerine haired girl away from the kitchen. There were tears in her eyes, making Misty's worries even stronger. But she never struggled against Daisy's grasp, she knew that her 12 year old sister was the authority and she shouldn't argue against her even if she wished to help her mama and papa.

"YOU BITCH," and the screaming began, causing the tiny water-trainer to cover her ears in fright as her little Eevee scampered to her feet in attempt to comfort her. It was her father, who had made the scream, as he threw a empty, glass beer bottle at his wife. "THE TROUBLES I GO THROUGH FOR THIS FAMILY, ONLY TO GET IT THROWN BACK IN MY FACE!"

Misty grabbed ahold of the Eevee, fearful of what would happen next after the sound of shattering glass filled her tiny ears. Looking down, she could see the hands that grasped her Pokemon were shaking and that brought her gaze back up to see her mother with an look of a mixture of guilt and anger. The older mirror image of the little girl knelt down and patted the girl's head. "I can't do this no more, sweetie. Goodbye," that was all she said before she left, dropping a letter on the floor.

Being young and naive, Misty slowly crept over to the letter as tears left her viridian eyes. "Di...di...divorce?" her little voice left her thought, trying to sound out the word that the letter said. Once she heard her older sister gasp, she knew that the word meant no good. "D-Daisy?...Is mama never coming back?"

"Looks like it, little sis..." said Daisy, before she glanced over to the twins - both of them looked shell-shocked from their position at the top of the stairs. "It's just us and father from now on..."

"BUT I WANT MAMA!" even if she knew Daisy was right, Misty didn't want to give up on her mama so quickly. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shaked and shivered at the thought of not having her mommy anymore. As she did this, she felt Daisy's stronger arms wrap around her tiny form. The little girl then hiccuped and sobbed into her sister's arms, her lop-sided ponytail falling out in the process of the movement.

* * *

Back in the present, tears were already escaping the teenager's eyes as she recounted the event of her mother leaving. "...I d-didn't even...understand why...or I still d-don't know why she never took us with her..."

"Hey, it's alright.." Ash commented, wrapping her arms around her. After a moment of thought and listening to Misty's heart-wrenching sobs, he came to a understandable conclusion. "..You don't have to continue if you don't wanna, you know. I don't want to see you in pain.."

Shaking her head, Misty looked up and forced a sad smile onto her face. "I...have to get this off my chest, Ash...," taking a short breath, she relaxed and continued in a still shaky voice. "It...only got worse from there...d-d-d-father..." she changed the word, still shakily. "...started to think I was...my mom..."

* * *

"You bitch!" Misty gasped in fright as she heard the painfully obvious voice from behind her, as he grabbed ahold of her ponytail and yanked her back painfully. She was only ten at the time and she already frightened to death of her father due to the mistreatment she had received in the last two years. Beatings and being called every name under the sun. Struggling, she whimpered as the pain of her hair being pulled scared her more. "Don't think you can get away!"

He pushed her down to the floor, not caring as she cried out in pain. Fear built up in her eyes as he climbed onto top of her and started to unbutton her top. "Papa, stop!" she cried, knowing this was wrong. ' _Where is Daisy, Lily and Violet..._ ' her thoughts frantically came, as she looked around in a panic for her sisters. Where were they, why weren't they helping her.

A punch landed on her face, her father's angry eyes glaring down at her. But he suddenly chuckled, the evil glint in his eyes only rising as he finished unbuttoning her shirt. "Don't think about struggling, my bitch. This will be pleasurable, don't you worry?"

"B-but I'm not mama, papa..." she tried to cry out, only trying to struggle more to escape this as her t-shirt fell over to reveal her childish figure. Her breathing became heavy as he moved onto her shorts, ripping them in two with his strong arms. Tears rolled down her eyes as he gave a evil grin at what he was about to do. And a second later, he pushed forward and Misty's painful screams rang through the house along with her sobs and yells for him to stop.

* * *

Panting, Misty looked up at Ash with her diluted eyes. Her first rape had been the hardest and it didn't get much better with every succession, even after the forceful removing of her virginity. The look in the raven haired boy's eyes made her want to cry again, he looked so shocked and about ready to cry himself. Wrapping his arms around her tighter, he brought her in for that comforting hug she was getting used to. "...I-it wasn't the last time..."

Forcing the question off his tongue, Ash looked down at her. "H-how many times d-did he do that?" he didn't want to hurt her emotions anymore than she had, but he felt like he should know.

"...I lost count..." and with that short phrase, he gasped in horror. How many times had her father raped her in the last four years, after he remembered she mentioned she was 10 at the time and now she was 14. "T-the last one...was when he was caught," she closed her eyes and let her tears fall again. "H-he...had just c-came inside me...when the police came..."

"...I'm guessing that isn't all he did," Delia asked, shocked as well even though she knew this much. She had been shocked to find out the first rape had been when the crying girl was only 10, she hadn't even heard that much.

Seconds later, Misty nodded her head and whispered out. "...I...have a f-fear of bug type Pokemon..." she started to explain, resting her head on Ash's shoulder as she forced her tears to stop. Now Ash understood why she froze when May mentioned her Beautifly and it broke his heart to hear that this girl had to fear a type of Pokemon due to her past abuse. "H-he...had...a cabinet..."

* * *

In the house, there was a small hole under the stairs that had been made into a little room. Just big enough for a girl of Misty's structure to fit underneath and her father used that to his advantage. Whenever she was 'bad', he would lock her in there. It wouldn't have been so bad, if it wasn't for the fact there was no light when the door was locked and that there was a multitude of bug types that made the under-stairs room their home. Weedle and Joltik were the common ones and the worse of it was that the Weedle were hostile, protective of their home, and so would frequently poison the girl before asking the Joltik to give her an electric shock.

"Get in there and think about what you have done!" her father yelled, pushing the girl into the room. Her eyes were dull as she glanced up at him with fear, but all effort to struggle had left her. "Next time, you won't refuse my love!"

Sitting in that cold room in the door, Misty gasped as a poison sting hit her foot. Almost able to feel the poison spreading, her breathing slowed and she felt sweat roll off her head as she tried to push herself into a nearby corner. As she did this, an electric shock rang through her bones. She had accidentally touched a Joltik in her movements and made it angry. Finally finding her voice, she began to bang on the door. Each bang rattled the frame, but it held firm. "LET ME OUT, PLEASE!" she screamed over and over, until her voice went raw. Even after she began to become hoarse, she kept trying. "...D-daisy, L-lily, V-violet...help me!"

Most of the time, she didn't even know how long she remained in there before her father let her out. Not once did her sisters ever let her out, it was clear that they were never home whenever this happened. Misty had stopped going to school, or more her father had pulled her out of it in the claims that he would be better off home-schooling her on her Pokemon education. By the time she was let out, her voice was gone and bangs remained under her eyes. There was no way she would attempt to slept in there and with her already nightmare-filled nights, it had left her exhausted and drained.

* * *

Like every other time she stopped recounting her events, she opened her eyes to see Ash and Delia's shocked expressions. She knew why they were shocked and, of course she wished it had never happened so she didn't have to recall these harsh memories. Frowning, Ash gently lifted Misty up into a sitting position and looked directly into her fearful eyes. "You doing well..., not breaking down as you recall them. And you're safe now, remember that."

"...I hope..." she whispered under her breath, recalling how she had saw her father the day before. Still she hoped it had only been her imagination playing pranks on her, but she couldn't relay on that forever. Picking her voice up. "...D-do you r-remember how I mentioned...an Eevee when...I told y-you about my meeting with Togepi?...And about...m-my parents divorce..."

Nodding, the boy was almost fearful to ask what she was implying. Had her father killed the young Pokemon? That was all he could think about. Worried, he forced his question out and waited to see how she'd response. "What happened?..."

"...Eevee was an amazing friend. My mother...gave her to me when I turned 6, as she knew...I loved water type Pokemon like she did...so...for years, I planned to evolve little Eevee into a Vaporeon..."

* * *

"Eevee-vee!" a little cry of worry brought Misty out of her thoughts, she had only just gotten out of the bug-filled room for the day and had been relived to be allowed to go to her bedroom - which was just the cold attic, with a poor-quality sleeping bag as her only source of warmth. It wasn't great and both trainer and Pokemon knew that. Fear filled Misty's eyes as she grasped Eevee and covered her mouth, thinking that her father would come and harm the young Pokemon if he knew that Misty still owned it.

For years, he had said that he would get rid of the Pokemon if he found it again - as he had thrown it out once. Whilst Misty had nodded fearfully, she managed to find Eevee and kept her hidden in her room for the last 2 years since he threw the Pokemon out on her 9th birthday. "...S-stay quiet...Eevee...please..." she whimpered, hoping that her father wouldn't find the little one. One day, she planned to get out of here and become a trainer with Eevee at her side. But to do that, she needed to survive 5 more years before she could start her journey. For that to happen, she needed Eevee to stay quiet.

"Did I hear a noise in here!" came the gruff voice, causing Misty to jump with a start. She knew instantly that, on the other side of the door she was looking at, was her father, she had to keep Eevee quiet and now. Even if the Pokemon kept struggling from the placement of her hand.

"N-no, father..." she stuttered, keeping her hand covering the young Pokemon's mouth. But that wasn't enough as the door to the room was forced open and her attempt to hide the Pokemon failed instantly. Growling, her father instantly grabbed the Eevee off her by the ears as the Pokemon yelped out her name in pain. "L-let her go, f-father...PLEASE!" she screamed, louder than she had in years. If she couldn't save herself, she should at least save her Pokemon. Her voice hitched when her father's eyes glared at her and she could see her Pokemon's fearful eyes looking at her.

That was when she was backhanded into the nearby wall, her ribs making an audible crack at the movement. Coughing out, she realised instantly that she was beyond injured at the sight of the blood that splattered onto the floor. "What did I tell you about this Pokemon, that I never wanted to see it again!" her father yelled, stepping over to his injured daughter with no remorse. He then kicked her sharply, causing her to cry out from the pain he had just inflicted on her potentially broken ribs.

After a few more kicks, Mr Waterflower had had enough of hurting the poor girl. And soon sauntered off, Eevee's ears still in his hand. The Pokemon wailed out in pain, as she felt the bones in one of her ears cracking from the force applied to them. She felt like the Bunnelby on the TV show that her owner used to watch frequently. It was a show about the Bunnelby outwitting his opponents via cheap tricks and comedic relief. His opponents would frequently grab him by the ears, though he shown no pain. If Eevee remembered correctly, he was called Bugs Bunnelby and was able to speak the language of humans.

Glancing back at her owner, Eevee tried to escape by using Bite. But that only resulted in the pain in her ears getting stronger as the man grabbed them even harder than before. "Misbehaving Pokemon need to be taught a lesson," he responded, before leaving the room.

Having been weakly watching, Misty hiccuped and coughed in agony as blood rolled down from her lip. How much more of this could she manage, especially now that she had let her Pokemon be found and taken away. All she could assume that was her father planned to kill the poor normal type and likely never tell her what had happened to it. "...I wanna die..." she whimpered out, as tears left her eyes.

* * *

"I-it wasn't long after that...that I decided to commit...suicide...and found Togepi," she looked over to the crib, seeing her baby awake and looking at her with worried eyes. Forcing herself off the bed, she walked over to the young fairy type and picked her up. "...If it wasn't for her, I would be dead. B-but that wasn't my only attempt..."

Soon after Ash nodded, glancing at the girl's scarred wrist. Misty gave a low sigh, walking back to sit on the bed with her winged baby on her lap. "...I-I...had just been r-raped again...when...father found out about Togepi. I was able...to protect her...b-but only if I let him...d-do that again...and not fight him...," tears rolled out of her eyes. "I...couldn't stop myself...and cut right through my vein, in front of Togepi. B-but...father came back too soon after the last rape, apparently...not satisfied enough...and caught me - so...as punishment, he decided to rape me...again..."

Feeling sick, Ash only just managed to get out his little question. "A-and the third time?"

"I-it was only about a few months back..., I just couldn't handle it anymore. T-there was no real reason, I...just had to get out of there...and if suicide was my only option...I..." sobbing a little, she took a few breathes of air. "...T-togepi used Metronome for the f-first time...got lucky, using teleport...and got me to my sister. D-daisy was understandable shocked, she didn't even know what was h-happening to me..."

"...Despite being in school at that moment, she was...q-quickly accused to take me to the hospital...and there...she found out...a-about the n-numerous r-rapes and abuse...h-how my ribs had been broken and never truly healed..."

"So...she got you out of there?" after this question from Delia, Misty nodded weakly.

"Yea...s-she instantly called...t-the police...but it took some time f-for them to p-process the i-information...s-so during that time, t-the...a-abuse only continued...u-until t-they finally...c-came...d-during o-one of the r-r-rapes...," her stuttering forced her to stop, as she rested her head back on Ash's shoulder in a panicked state. It was clear that she couldn't continue any longer without injuring her mental state beyond help. He gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, which finally gave her the cue to finish. "...A-and you know the rest..."

After that short line, her tears began falling again and she threw herself into Ash's awaiting arms. Staying there for a few minutes, just crying, she stayed relatively quiet and just accepting the comfort. It wasn't long before she cried herself to sleep out of pure exhaustion. Looking down at the girl with pity, Ash gently placed her back into the bed. He would have removed Togepi from her arms, but the little fairy was adamant that she was staying with her mommy. Gently he pushed a strand of hair from her face as he whispered. "Poor girl..."

"I...knew a little about what she had gone through," Delia admitted to her son, looking down at Misty with a frown. "But I wasn't aware of some of the other details that she just told you. It must have been painful to recount those memories. Lets...just hope she doesn't have another nightmare after this."

Ash nodded, knowing that with these thoughts present in her short-term memory that they would be more likely to pop up in her dreams. He just hoped that wouldn't be the case and that she could have a proper nights sleep. Gently, he knelt down and kissed the girl's forehead. "Please sleep well, Mist..."

* * *

Alright, hope you enjoyed. This was painful to write and likely going to be painful to read. I hope you don't mind too much, especially with all the flashbacks. I...couldn't go into detail about the rape scene, mainly cause I think it shouldn't be possible - even for an adult - to write such content.


	8. Rekindling friendships (New chapter)

Two chapters in one day, what am I: Mad. Nah. Just want to get something else up. That and boredom.

* * *

After having a actual restful night, Misty felt more rejuvenated on Monday morning. Truthfully, she had been surprised that she woke up with no nightmares. Did getting everything off her chest help her enough? She got up and opened her bag, so she could remember her timetable. Surprised to see that Pokemon Biology was one of them, remembering how May had taken in her Skitty for a lesson. Did that mean she had to take Togepi, quite likely. The only time she had brought the little Spike Ball to school was that first day she transferred in, since it was easier for her to transport the little one around.

Lifting her baby off the bed, she tried not to disturb the winged baby. This would be interesting, since she wasn't even used to the little angelic wings that the little one now processed. How would she handle the little one if she wanted to be a troublemaker. Heading downstairs, she decided to ask Ash if he knew anything about the Pokemon Biology classes. As if she remembered correctly, May was both in her class. Walking into the kitchen, she was surprised to see that Delia was yet to be there. But she didn't let it bother her and sat down in the corner, gently waking up Togepi so she could feed the little one.

It wasn't long before Delia walked into the room and smiled at the girl, before getting to work on preparing breakfast. "Good morning, Misty. Did you sleep well?

"...S-surprising yes," came the response, which Delia nodded to. For the girl to not have a nightmare after recollecting all those events was definitely a miracle. Sure she hadn't spelt particularly well on Saturday, but Sunday had been near perfect for her. Once she finished feeding Togepi, she gently placed the sleepy Pokemon down next to her bag and sat at the table. Delia gently placed a plate of egg on toast in front of the girl and sat down herself. After a little picking, Misty finally placed a little bit of the egg into her mouth and continued to slowly nibble the food.

Suddenly a loud crash caught their attention and they turned to see Ash in the doorway, Pikachu on his lap and the evident collision between trainer and Pokemon left no real questions. "Sorry about that, hehe. Pikachu kinda lunged at me as I was coming down the stairs," placing the electric type on the ground, the boy ran over to the table and sat down next to Misty. He glanced at the egg on toasts and instantly began to shovel it into his mouth. "Wis is wood!" he complimented, his mouth stuffed with food.

"Ash, don't talk with your mouth full," came the scolding from Delia, earning a little giggle from Misty.

Deciding it was time to ask the boy, Misty fiddled with her dress - she actually chose to wear the togepi-themed dress and pigtails again. In their school, they were allowed to wear whatever they wished as uniform. For the last week, Misty's uniform had consisted on a regular white tank-top and a pair of shorts. So she decided to change it up and she wanted to be able to be normal. "...A-ash, I...have Pokemon Biology today...and I remember how-"

Catching on fast, Ash cut her off. "You want to know if you have to bring Togepi in?" he waited until she nodded in confirmation and smiled. "Yeah, you do. I got a text from May over the weekend to say you need to bring in a Pokemon."

A sigh of relief left Misty's lips, though there was mild worry there. A question emerged in her thoughts and she slowly worded it out, in her usual stuttered manner of speaking. "D-do I need to put her in a poke ball during the other lessons?"

"Well, its recommended as Pokemon can sometimes be troublesome and the teachers don't wish for them to disrupt the lessons," her foster brother explained, looking at Togepi with one eye and at Misty with the other. "And knowing Togepi, she may cause a mess."

"I...see..." came the low whisper, Misty was unsure about leaving her baby within a poke ball. Not once had Togepi remained in that space for more than a few minutes when she was first caught. It would...be weird to not have her child around, even if she didn't have the little tyke around during school hours. "...She probably would...wouldn't she?"

"But, in special cases, the teachers do allow students to keep their Pokemon out. For instance, whenever I have to bring Pikachu in, I'm allowed to keep him out of his poke ball. For...a different reason. You see, Pikachu hates his poke ball and will do anything he can - usually electrocute the nearest warm body - if the concept if even mentioned."

Remembering displayed strength of Ash's Pikachu, Misty shuddered a little - never wanting to be hit by one of those Volt Tackles that the electric type frequently displayed due his morning battles with his brother. She managed to finally finish her egg on toast and walked to pick up her now sleeping Pokemon. One breath at a time, as she pulled out Togepi's poke ball from her bag. The Love Ball gleamed in the light as it absorbed the Pokemon in with a pinkish glow, Togepi didn't even bat an eye to the transition into the ball.

Holding the heart-printed ball close, she looked back at Ash nervously. He was smiling however, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lets get going, I'm sure May is waiting for us. And if we're late, then we're getting a yelling," he would have also added 'I hope she loved her breakfast', but figured that his step sister wouldn't understand what he meant by that. He, however, knew quite well about his childhood friend's insane eating habits - though apparently he wasn't much better in that department.

Deciding not to reply, Misty just followed Ash out of the door after saying goodbye to Delia. It wasn't long before they met up with May, the girl was resting against a stone wall with a glare in her eyes. "And what time do you think this is. HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN WAITING FOR YOU SLOWPOKES TO GET HERE," she glared, though mostly at Ash as she didn't want to scare Misty too much.

"Sorry, May. It's just that Misty wanted to ask something about the Pokemon Biology class and we got side-tracked," Ash explained, hoping that his foster sister wouldn't hate him too much for 'blaming' her. He just didn't want to deal with an angry May, though it seemed like she had ate breakfast so wasn't as angry as she could be in this situation.

"Oh, I guess that makes it A-okay," May commented, moving forward from her spot and joining them in the walk. It was then that Misty noticed the little kitten Pokemon resting on the girl's hair. May giggled a little, noticing Misty's outfit. "I see you kept up the adorable Togekiss look, you look even more like Togepi's mommy in that get-up."

This did bring a blush onto Misty's face, but she gave a little happy nod. In her hand was her Love Ball and she kept glancing at it. Chuckling a little, May suddenly whispered in the girl's ear. "So how's it living with Ash Ketchum?"

That tiny blush that had adorn Misty's face burst into a full-on red hue, as the girl whispered out her stuttered reply. "...H-he's...n-nice...and h-helpful..." she took a chance-glance at the girl she was talking to, only to see May's expression that indicate there was more to it. Trying to act confident, though failing miserably, she continued her whisper. "...D-don't look at me l-like that...t-that's all it...he's o-only a f-friend...n-nothing more...a-and he's my...f-foster b-brother at that..."

May just chuckled, deciding not to comment. She could see straight through Misty's obvious, miserable attempt to hide her new found feelings. Though this little thought process didn't last long as a voice rang through her ears and she turned to see a obvious figure with a ton of blue hair trailing off her head. "May, Ash, Misty. Good morning!"

"Morning, Dawn," May responded, giving her friend a smile followed by a high-five. "How have you been?"

"Good," came the quick response, before the bluenette turned to Misty. Suddenly she was bent down and apologising. "I know I've already said sorry, but I'm going to say it again. I'm sorry for the comment I made about...your wrist. It was impolite and rude, I should have thought before I said anything. I just wanted to know that you were alright."

Surprised by the honest apology, Misty was left in a bit of a bind. She could accept the apology and go on as normal, forgiving Dawn for her past actions. Or she could regret it and continue being scared of talking to the bluenette. She choose the former, as she needed to make the recovery. She couldn't recover if she remained scared of one of her foster brother's close friends. "...It's alright, Dawn..." she whispered out. "...I...accept your apology..."

Relief filled the Sinnoh girl's face, as she smiled at the tangerine haired girl. "Thank you. I promise I would make anymore insensitive comments," suddenly she looked behind her and yelled out loudly. "Paul, I know your there. Come out already, your freaking edge-lord. You been ignoring me all week due to this stupid competition!"

With the mild frown, the purple haired boy came around the corner and gave a small glare at his girlfriend. "How'd you even know I was there, troublesome?" he commented, using his pet-name for the girl.

"Well, for one, I saw your purple hair. You think I can't recognise that anywhere. YOUR THE ONLY ONE AT SCHOOL WITH THAT COLOR," though she wasn't one really to talk with her stylish blue hair, but seriously. But then realisation hit her like a trunk and her anger burst. "And didn't I tell you to stop calling me 'Troublesome' already. I have a name, it's Dawn!"

"Whatever, troublesome," he replied before averting his attention to Ash. "I'm hoping for a good battle on Friday, Ketchum. You and your Pikachu better impress me."

"Oh, we will!" Ash responded, his voice full of confident and energy. It was clear that he was planning on winning that competition without a doubt. "Oh, and since you haven't been around for the last week: you haven't met her yet," he pushed Misty slightly forward, much to the girl's slight discomfort. "This is my new foster sister, her name is Misty Waterflower. She's been around, but you have been too busy training to even come and talk to us."

Grunting, Paul gave the tangerine hair girl no mind and turned to his girlfriend. "Alright, troublesome. To prove that I haven't been ignoring me, I want to see you at lunch time in the courtyard. I want you to train with me, even if you don't have those contest-loving Pokemon on you."

Gritting her teeth, Dawn reluctantly nodded. She loved the boy, she really did. But at time, he could be a pain in the ass and this was one of them. "Fine, but I'm borrowing your Grotle!" she yelled as he walked off from them, giving a wave and a line of 'I'll think about it'. Sighing, Dawn deflated a little. "May, remind me why I go out with him?"

"Because he's your childhood friend and has always been your crush, even with his bad attitude? Frankly, I don't even know personally," May chuckled, putting a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "But cheer up. Come Friday afternoon, he'll be back to his normal self. Not battle crazed. Just let him and Ash battle it out and then you can get him to finally listen to you."

Watching them, Misty wondered about Dawn's relationship with the boy she had literally just met. Were they really that close? They seemed to be, but there was a lot of fighting. Was...that how relationships worked? I-if...Ash revealed he liked her, w-were they going to become like that?

Suddenly she had May in her face, a smile adorning the brunette's face. "I have a plan. Remember how I said I'd let you borrow Glaceon for the competition, well. HOW ABOUT A SLEEPOVER!" she suddenly screamed, causing Misty to jolt back and let her eyes adjust to a sudden volume. "You need to get used to him, so why not stay at my house for a bit and we can begin training. Hey, Dawn could even come over."

"A...sleepover?"

* * *

Alright, short and simple. But I think this chapter creates a nice transition over to the next week: which is training and then the big competition that I've been hyping up since chapter 2.


	9. Sleepover (New chapter in rewrite)

"You should go on this sleepover," commented Ash, smiling as the girls glanced at him. Continuing, he explained why it was a good idea. "It'd be great for you to relax and get used to May and Dawn more," he then reached over and took ahold of Togepi's poke ball. "And so she's not stressing you out, I could even keep an eye on Togepi for you. She won't be too much trouble."

"B-but..." Misty was about to complain, not about the sleepover concept - but about leaving her Pokemon with Ash. But she gave it a little though, Ash was really good with Pokemon and Togepi saw him as the daddy. So why not? "O-okay..." she whispered, earning a cheer of excitement from May. "B-but what about t-telling Miss D-Delia?"

"Don't you worry your pretty head about that," Ash commented, receiving a cute blush from the girl. Wait, did he seriously just call her 'pretty' and think she was 'cute. He let the thought process roll in his head and tried to figure out why he said that. Mentally shaking and slapping his head, he decided to continue talking in attempt to remove the strange - but...nice - thoughts from his head. "I'll tell mom and you can head straight to May's after school. Like I said, it'll be a nice time to relax so I'm sure mom will be happy to agree."

Making to control her blushing, Misty gave a small nod before turning to May. "S-so...w-where's y-your house?"

Chuckling, May just smiled and said. "No need to worry, you'll be there in two flicks of a Skitty's tail after school. I'll lead you there personally," glancing at her blue haired friend, she continued. "Besides it'll only be us on the walk there, Dawn has to head home to get changed. Whilst," she looked the girl up and down, making a quick, if rash, decision. "I can let you wear my clothes, we're about the same height." ' _Though not of the same weight..._ ' she managed to prevent herself from commenting, knowing how insensitive it would be based on how Misty's low weight was a part of her issue with eating.

Shocked, Misty couldn't bring herself to reply and gave a small nod of the head with her pigtails bouncing gently. Looking between the three people she was chatting with, she mentally decided that she did need a break and that even if she had to wear May's close - it didn't matter.

* * *

The school day ended rather quickly and May was quick to meet up with the timid girl at the school entrance. "Lets get going, Misty!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing a hold of Misty's hand and near dragging her down the street. They passed by the wall they had been standing near that morning, and then crossed the room only a mere few steps away from Ash's house. The tangerine haired girl looked back across the street, seeing Ash with Togepi in his hands. She nearly called out, but forced herself to stop and just continue following closely behind May.

"And here we are!" came the sudden yell, snapping the girl's focus to glance at May's home. It was a regular Japanese-style building, rather large and she heard the large noise of Pokemon playing as well as the fluttering of wings. Pushing the massive gate open, May yelled out. "I'm home, and I brought a friend over. Dawn's coming later on! We're having a sleepover!"

A older woman stepped out of the house and sighed. "How many times have we told you to tell us prior to bringing them," but the scolding stopped when the woman saw Misty's shy form, near hidden by May's back. "Who's this, May. I don't think you've ever brought her over?"

"Oh, her name is Misty Waterflower. She's Ash's new foster sister and has been going to the school for the last week," May explained, gently stepping back so Misty was in full view. Nervously, Misty stayed quiet and fiddled with her dress a little. "She gets quite nervous and is quite timid, so just be cautious around her."

Suddenly a scream ripped out of Misty's throat and she ran to hide behind a nearby cherry blossom tree. Surprised by the sudden scream, May looked around and all she could see was her Beautifly flapping over to her and landing on her head. "Oh hey, Beautifly," she commented, before heading towards Misty. This earned a loud painful scream, as tears rolled down the girl's cheeks. Shocked, May instantly put Beautifly back into her poke ball. "...I-I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you had a phobia of bugs types," at least, to the girl, that was what it seemed to be.

Panicky, the viridian eyed girl walked over and after a long breath began to talk. "...I-it's...it's...a-alright..." she whispered out, panicked and heavily breathing. "I n-never...t-t-t-told...y-you..."

May sighed and hugged the girl. "Don't worry, I won't bring her back out. Or...if it's alright, I'll leave her in the Pokemon-barn out back. Depends on what you want me to do," and with that, she went quiet and just looked at the terrified girl.

It was a few minutes later that Misty finally found her voice. Even with her fears, she couldn't force the Pokemon to stay in the ball for the entire night. That would be cruel, so...she decided with a short breath of air as her anxieties filled her mind. "P-put...h-her in the barn..." seeing the surprised look on May and her mother's faces, she gave a low explanation. "...I...c-can't f-force her...t-to stay in...the b-ball...i-it's not her fault..."

"Alright. I'll take her to the barn, you and mom could have a chat in the kitchen or something," and with that said, May ran off to the nearby barn. Playing around it was a Slokoth and Vigoroth, and not too far from them was a Slaking that had a Torchic bouncing up and down on it. "Torchic!" May's voice suddenly yelled, glaring at the little chick Pokemon. "Get down from there, you'll fall if you don't!"

"Torchic tor!" came the response as the little fire type hopped down from its position on Slaking's head. It ran over to its trainer and hopped around like it was bouncing on a bouncy-castle. "Tor! Torchic tor chic! Chic!"

May chuckled, picking the little chicken up to give it a hug. "Alright, boy. Go over there and introduce yourself to my friend whilst I put Beautifly into the barn," she watched the little chicken nod its head and run off to say hello to Misty. She finally made it to the barn and let her bug type out. "Would you mind staying in her, girl. Misty's scared of bug types and I don't want to activate her anxieties. Is that alright with you?" The bug seemed to nod and went to fly away the barn, bringing a smile onto the girl's face.

Walking back towards Misty, the girl smiled as her Glaceon came up to her. He looked relaxed and she was glad he had appeared as it was time to introduce him to Misty. "Hey, Misty. Here's the Glaceon I was telling you about. Would you introduce yourself, boy?" she asked, looking down at the ice type as Misty looked at it with a mixture of interest and slight pain due to the lose of her own Eevee.

"Glaceon glace," he calmly said, walking up to Misty and nuzzling her gently. Whilst Misty froze at first, she did eventually breath out and slowly pet the ice type's soft fur to his pleasure. Watching them, May smiled. She knew that her idea could work, she just needed to make sure her friend could work well with Glaceon. But, since tonight was about the sleepover, it could wait and they had until Friday after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Ash. He was reading through a list of tasks that Misty had given him, they were all relating to how she looked after her baby. Whilst Misty was so soft-spoken, shy and nervous in normal speech, her writing made her quite ambitious and more assertive. One of her comments was that he needed to give the infant Pokemon a bath, but it had to smell like strawberries or else the little one would get angry. But the first thing on the list was food, which was simple baby food that was banana and mint flavours. That had to be easy, right?

He had told his mom that he would be the sole responsibility for the infant, even saying that Togepi saw him as her daddy and so that, to him, meant he had to look after the baby. Delia had tried to say she'd help, but eventually the boy's passion and drive caused her to sigh and reply with "If it gets over your head, come to me for help. Is that alright, sweetie."

Rummaging around Misty's diaper bag, one that she left on the kitchen counters. Eventually, he found the baby food and tipped it into a tiny pink bowl. Glancing behind him, he saw Togepi in the newly brought high chair. She was all giggly, but peaceful. It seemed like she wasn't going to cause much trouble. So he gently moved the bowl onto the high chair tray and waited for her to start eating. She...did put her little hands into the baby food, and seconds later he heard a splat as the brown-looking food hit his face and began to roll down. He grumbled, looking at the fairy type as she began to giggle louder.

This was going to a loud night, he could see it coming and he was only one step into the list that his foster sister had made for him. But he eventually got the little baby to start eating, albeit after a few more hurls of food at his face and at the cabinets behind him. As she ate the food in a more peaceful manner, Ash looked around the room and saw the mess. He sighed. ' _This was going to be fun..._ '

* * *

Back at the Maple household, May was showing Misty around her house and looking at the adorable surprised looks on the shy girl's face. Looking at the clock, she smiled and said in a kind manner. In her arms was her Skitty, who was nyaa-ing happily. "Dawn will be here soon. So how about we head to my bedroom, so we can set up for the sleepover?"

Silently, Misty nodded and followed the brown haired girl to the bedroom. May's bedroom was pretty, full of nice colors and soft bedding. Across from the door was a wide window, light gleaming into the room and brightening up the few shadows. Next to the window on the left wall was a nice mahogany cupboard, with light paintings of a young girl with a Skitty headband with a baby boy in a Treeko outfit. Judging by the brown hair, Skitty theme and unusual 'pigtailed' hairstyle, it was obvious that the young girl was a small version of May. But who was the baby boy in the Treecko onesie, May had a younger brother?

It seemed that May noticed Misty looking at the cute little painting and giggled. "It's a drawing that my mom painted on there when I was about 5 The little boy is my little brother, Max. He's 4 years younger than me and more interested about Pokemon. Ever since he was a baby, he couldn't wait to go on a Pokemon journey with a Treecko by his side," a sad look appeared on her face. "...He got angry at me recently, which is why he hasn't come up to them."

"W-why did he get mad at you..." Misty whispered, sitting down on the floor opposite May's position on the bed. Leaning against the wall, she glanced at the Skitty that was chasing her tail around on the floor nearby.

"Well. About a year ago, my father decided to tell me why he wanted me to raise my two normal types - Munchlax and Skitty -...he wanted me to, uh, follow in his footsteps and become the gym leader when I'm old enough. We never planned to tell Max, but he found out by accident when he caught us arguing about it. For years, he wished to become the gym leader of Petalburg. But...dad wanted me to be, so me and Max ended up getting into a argument over it," she sighed and looked away. "...I never wanted to be dad's heir...I wouldn't mind Max being it, but nobody listens to me..."

Slowly Misty stood up and hesitantly wrapped her arms around May, attempting to comfort the girl even with the awkward factor of being on the opposite side of the comfort concept. "...You should tell them,...they should listen to you. T-they're y-your family after all. F-family is supposed to support o-one a-another and their ambitions," it felt so weird to be saying these concepts, but Misty knew they were true - even if her family never supported such beliefs and instead broke into a mess of abuse, rape and other things she suffered.

"You seem to know a lot about this...despite being a foster kid," May commented, much to Misty's obvious surprise. Sighing a little, May continued after a short thought. "I'm only messing with you, Misty. I'll tell them about my feelings, but for now lets just relax."

After she said this, the door banged open and scared Misty half to death. May wasn't as scared and just glared at the obvious figure in the doorway as the figure's blue hair bounced around and the girl's smile brightened. "And I'm here!"

* * *

"Dammit, Misty. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS!?" Ash screamed, to nobody in particular. It was nap time, or so he had hoped. Unfortunately, it seemed like Togepi was in no interest of sleeping and she was now throwing her toys around the room, particularly at him. Looking up, he saw the flying baby as she threw a rubber ducky at him. It hit his face and only brought more anger to him, but he relaxed and decided not to burst out yelling at a child. "Togepi, daddy says its bed time and not play time. We can play later," he said, in the most fatherly voice he could muster.

One second after he said this, he could see a look of surprise on the baby's face as she gently flapped her wings. All that could be heard was the gentle buzzing of the wings as she stared at him with surprise, but eventually she let herself fall down into his awaiting arms. "Ticku!" she squealed, hugging him. "Toge-toge-prii!"

"That's a good girl. I'll read you a bedtime story," Ash chuckled, he gently placed her into the crib and snuggled her up amongst the blankets. Quickly he ran to Misty's bookshelf, that she had brought just to read stories to her baby, and pulled out the cutest book he could find. It was called 'The Beauty and the Zoroark', it was a classic tale that he had read when he was younger. Walking back over to the waiting baby, he began to read the story. "Belle was a young girl, living in a quaint little town in Kalos..."

As every word he spoke, he could see the little Pokemon's eyes flicker and flicker. A little yawn left her mouth, before she snuggled amongst the blanket and fell asleep. Ash smiled, bent over and kissed the Togepi's head. Placing the book back in the shelf, he left the room and took a breath. He couldn't believe he had read a romance book, a faint blush popped on his cheeks as he recalled how the book had been in Misty's bookshelf. Did she like romance books, such as 'The Beauty and the Zoroark'? Shaking his head, he glanced briefly back inside the room at the baby and was relieved to see the baby still asleep. Putting up the list, he looked at the next item and walked off to prepare for the 'dreaded' bath time.

* * *

"Hiya, girls!" came the loud scream from Dawn, giggling as she sat down on the floor near where Misty had been before. "I brought a pair of sleeping bags," which caused May to breath a sign of relief. Whilst she could give Misty her spare pyjamas, she didn't have a spare sleeping bag. Chuckling, Dawn seemed to get the idea of what her friend was thinking. "Seems like your glad I did that, May."

"Of course, you should know that I only have one sleeping bag. And considering we're having a sleepover, I shouldn't sleep in my own bed now should I," May smiled as Misty sat back down a few meters away from Dawn. "Sleepovers should never involve beds, its not good as it creates jealousy and arguements. We don't want nonsense like that, do we?"

"Of course not," came Dawn's response as she suddenly pulled Misty in for a sideways hug. As she continued this hug, much to Misty's slight discomfort, she looked up at May and asked out the simple question. "So, what's up first on the agenda?"

"Well, I haven't talked much about it to Misty yet. But I have one idea that we could do until dinner: Truth or dare," seeing Misty's confused face, she was surprised to find out that the tangerine haired girl had never heard of the game. "Its basically a game played at sleepovers, where someone asks another 'truth or dare' and whatever they answered leads to either a dare or a question they have to answer truthfully."

"Ahh..." came the small response, Misty clearly understanding the intent of the game. "W-who's...g-going to start?..." she whispered, looking between Dawn and May as she silently hoped that she wasn't the start up.

"Since I suggested it, I'll go first," the Hoenn girl responded, before looking between her two friends. Instantly she looked at Dawn and said. "Truth or Dare," in a cutesy, if evil intended, voice that was used to scare Dawn a little.

Maybe unnerved or just bored of May's cutesy, 'scary' voice, Dawn responded simply with a quick. "Dare," before thinking and adding with a quick giggle. "Make it a good one!"

"Alright," May began to think, before coming up with a simple dare. "Alright, I'm going to time you for 10 minutes. I want you to talk continuously, even if you run low on breath," once her friend agreed, she got out her phone and got up a timer. "Alright, 1...2...3 and go!" she yipped out, starting the timer as Dawn began to speak constantly.

She strained after the 5 minute mark, but continued to the surprise of both Misty and May. Once the timer hit 10, she collapsed to the floor and gasped out. "...Alright, I'm done. W-woud u g-wet me a d-wrink!" she yelled, slurring her words and breathing heavily. Misty yelped and ran out of the room, coming back a few moments later with a glass of water. She handed it to the bluenette, who drank it down in one gulp. "Ahh, that was good. Thanks for that dare, miss demon," she said, one a half-heartened glare at the girl opposite her.

"Your welcome," May chuckled, petting Skitty who had made her way onto the girl's lap. "Alright, Dawn. It's your turn, who do you want to ask out of me and Misty. Be good if you choose her, since its her first game."

"Alright, alright," came the groan of annoyance, but the bluenette looked between the two of them. "Alright, Misty. Truth or dare?"

Squeaking, Misty felt worried what would happen if she said 'dare' so she went for the lesser of the two evils. "...Um...uh...truth!" she yipped, fearing what the question would be.

Giggling, Dawn thought for a second before asking a simple, embarrassing question. "Do you have a crush?" it was simple, sure. But she was curious to see if the girl had a crush on anyone, particularly a certain raven haired boy in their group. With the looks Misty gave the boy, her comfort around him and many other indications of a potential crush.

Gasping in embarrassment, Misty knew she had to answer truthfully. That was what May had explained, right? She knew what a crush was, even if it frightened her after all the experiences she had gone through based on her childhood. "...Um..." she stuttered, trying to force out her obvious answer as May and Dawn gave her looks of expectancy. "...Y-yes..." she breathed out, thankful that Dawn hadn't asked 'who was her crush'. Waiting a little while, she realised that it was her turn to ask. "...Um...M-may...truth or dare?" she whimpered out, afraid of what she could say for either option. ' _...Please say t-truth...it's easier..._ '

"Dare!" came the response, much to Misty's obvious discomfort. What could she say in response, what dare could she give her brown haired friend.

Suddenly she felt something next to her and saw Dawn, opening her mouth and whispering something to her. A look of embarrassment filled her face, but she nodded her head and said what Dawn had suggested. "L-lick...the c-cupboard..."

Obviously, May didn't like the dare but she did it. And the game continued on like normal, truths and dares getting progressive worse until Misty turn came after two more run around. This time, it was May making the truth or dare. "So, Misty. Truth or Dare?"

"...Um..." deciding that after 3 rounds of 'truth', she had to go 'dare' or look pathetic. So in a slow, nervous voice. "...D-dare..."

"Okay. This might sound cruel, but I'm going to do it as I want you to be used to my Pokemon. Since...I'm going to be using her on Friday during the battles, I don't want you to freak out if we need to battle at one point," and with that, she left the room for a little while in complete silence. Dawn was looking at Misty with confusion, shocked to see the girl's frightened face. It seemed like Misty knew exactly what May was talking about, only growing more and more panicked when May came back. "Alright, I'm not going to force you to stay with her for more than a minute. If you feel uncomfortable at any moment, tell me and I'll recall her."

A frightened nod came from Misty, as May gave a solemn nod and let out her Beautifly. She gently timed the minute with her phone as she let her butterfly-like Pokemon fly around. Misty tried to keep as calm as possible, watching the bug type as her wings gracefully. However, she felt something strange within her. Beautifly wasn't hurting her, it actually...looked pretty beautiful like her name suggested. C-could it be possible that not all bug types...weren't mean? But, it was when the bug/flying dual type decided to land on her head that this theory was put into play.

Whilst she breathed heavily, closing her eyes in fear that the butterfly Pokemon would hurt her. But when no pain came, she hesitated and opened her eye. She glanced up at May, who was smiling, and then at Dawn, who also shared that smile. Chancing a look and she saw Beautifly sitting peacefully on her head, like how she had in May earlier. Even though her breathing went normal, she didn't feel too comfortable and whispered. "May...can you return her...please?"

Glancing at her phone, May was admitting surprised to see that the timer had passed 2 minutes and quickly returned her Pokemon. She was surprised to see that Misty had managed to go that far, with only a little exposure. "That was pretty amazing, Misty. I had expected you to freak out and give up after only a few seconds or something, considering what happened earlier."

If she was able to speak right now, Misty would have responded with a line that she was surprised herself. But she wanted to lower her shock first, before managing to speak. After a few minutes of silence, she finally opened her mouth and whispered. "Y-yea..." before turning to Dawn and deciding to continue the game. "Um...Dawn, truth or dare?"

* * *

Back with Ash and Togepi, nap time had ended and the little one was back to flying around Misty's bedroom much to Ash's mild annoyance. Now he had Pikachu running around with him, trying to catch the little baby Pokemon. It was bath time after all and he had already gotten the bath ran, full of strawberry-scented bubble bath. He just had to get the fairy type into the bath, and that involved catching the little flyer. "How...does...Misty...cope...with...you?" he gasped out, saying a little bit at a time with every jump with his arms outstretched in attempt to catch Togepi.

"Toge-toge-toge," laughed the little one, stopping in mid-flight as Ash landed on the floor and bruises his nose. But when she saw the blood dribbling down his face, she decided enough was enough and flew down with worried on her face. Once she landed on the floor, she looked up at Ash and. "Togeto?" she asked, wondering if her daddy was alright.

"I'm good, Togepi," he responded, wiping his nose and gently pointing it to access the damage. It was just a simple nose-bleed, nothing was broken to his relief. Reaching over, he picked up his 'daughter' and carried her to the bathroom with a sigh of relief. ' _I wonder if Misty's having more fun right now?_ ' he thought, as he placed the little one into the half-full bath.

Smelling the strawberry scent, Togepi squealed in delight and splashed the water about as Ash tried to scrub her clean. "Hold still," he whined, as water splashed him in the face. It was evident to him that the little baby just wanted to play, even though it was supposed to be bath time. "Just hold still for a little longer," he rephrased with more kindness in his voice, as he wiped the slightly dirty shell that encased the little one and caught sight of the tiny cracks that Togepi's angelic wings had emerged from. "Guess it won't be long before this egg completely cracks off..."

"Togeprii?" came the confused response, as the little one looked up at her daddy. It was clear that she didn't understand what he meant or why he was looking intently at her little wings. Waving her hand, trying to get his attention as she called out. "Togeto? Togeto?"

Snapping back into reality, Ash chuckled as he gently placed a rubber ducky in the bath. "Sorry, Togepi. It's alright," he smiled and watched as she shook the little duck around. "I wonder what your cute mommy is doing right now," he blushed a little at the thought of Misty being 'cute', but shook it off whilst Togepi seemed to giggle at him.

* * *

Later that night, the sleepover was coming to a close as the girls settled down in their sleeping bags to go to sleep. May was snuggling Skitty as she nuzzled in her sleeping bag. "One last truth or dare before we settled down," she commented, smiling. "So, Misty. Truth or dare?" she secretly hoped Misty would go for 'truth' like she had for most of the game.

"T-truth..." came the quiet response, though she was getting more and more confident with each question and she hoped that the question wouldn't be anything too harsh. What she was about to get wasn't anything like that.

"Why did you end up in Miss Delia's care?" came the simple question May asked, thinking it wasn't going to be anything too harsh or irresponsible of her. Whilst Dawn looked at Misty with as much interest as May did, as she had been wondering the same thing for the entire night. How did the shy girl end up being looked after by Ash's mom, what had happened to her real family?

"I..." Misty tried to start, she had to answer truthfully. Right? She had done this before, she could do it again and all she had to do was a simple sentence. Nothing more. She didn't need to go into detail. "...M-my...p-parents g-got divorced...a...few years ago," she started, earning a confused nod from the pair, before she continued. "...My dad...he...abused...and r-r-ra.." she didn't say the word, but the look of horror she received was enough to tell her that they knew. "...O-one of my...s-sisters...told the police...and...they arrested him..."

Regretting asking, May responded with. "I'm sorry for asking, that must have hurt to say," Dawn nodded in agreement, as she gently got out of her sleeping bag and lifted Misty's skinny body up and pulled her into a hug. That hug was soon turned into a group hug as May joined in. "Don't worry, you're out of there. Your father is in jail and you're safe."

A smile wormed onto the girl's face as she nodded tearfully. The hug dispersed and the chorus of 'good nights' were heard after everyone settled back into their sleeping bags. Misty was the last to fall asleep, looking at the moon as it rose in the sky. It looked lonely at first, but then she saw the stars that surrounded it. Smiling, she turned over and let herself fall asleep at last. Could she become like the moon and stars?

* * *

Whoa. Long chapter, longest so far but I believe a chapter coming up will...um, out-do this one.


	10. Practice (New chapter in rewrite)

"MISTY, WAKE UP!" a loud shout was heard, through the mist. Looking around, the little tangerine haired girl blinked and wondered who was calling out to her and wasn't she already awake. Stepping forward through the mist, she heard footsteps and jolted around. There was a easily recognisable figure that brought a knot to the girl's throat.

"...Father..., she whimpered in fear, backing away as he stepped forward. With each step, her eyes widened as her breathing became much heavier. A scream ripped from her throat as she tripped over, earning a evil look for her father. "...L-leave me alone..." crying, she hugged herself and begged for him to leave her. As a pained whimper left her throat, he grabbed ahold of her and started to violate her. "...Please..."

"Wake up!" came another yell of desperation, but it wasn't for Misty or her father. Where or who...was the person yelling out to her. Seeing her father above her, she pushed him up and gasped out when he punched her before pushing forward - into her. Eventually Misty's eyes snapped open and she looked up, tears in her eyes, at a panicked May and Dawn. "Oh thank goodness," May said, pulling the teary-eyed girl into a hug. "What happened in your nightmare?"

Shaking her head, Misty refused to speak and just sobbed into her friend's arms as Dawn gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Eventually her tears did come to a close, but not because of the comfort...instead it was because she ran out of tears. "M-may...can...we do...s-something...I w-want to get m-my...mind off..." she just gave a dry sob, breaking her friends' hearts. In the back of her mind, she wished Ash was there - he could always comfort her after a nightmare. It wasn't that she disliked May and Dawn, she did love both of them - but they...just weren't the same.

"Of course. We've got a few hours until school, you kinda woke us up," May commented, showing Misty the time: it was 5 in the morning. Glancing out the window, light was just starting to trail over the horizon and it was pretty cold still. "Lets...start your training with Glaceon, you need to start to. You can even come over after school if you want. Not for another sleepover, but...instead just for the training. I can see clearly that you need Ash in case you get these nightmares, so no more sleepovers until you are ready."

A weak smile beamed onto Misty's looks, as she gave a tearful nod. "..L-l-lets go...then..." came the little whisper, as May helped her stand up. The trio glanced between each other, before handing downstairs quietly. It was thankful that nobody else in the household was already awake, and so the girls were able to just slip out of the building. As quietly as possible, May and Dawn were the ones to push the doors to the Pokemon-barn open. Inside were the family's Pokemon, including May's Glaceon and the rest of them. Beautifly was the first to fly out of the door, as if she had been waited to get out for hours. Zooming past Misty, the girl looked surprised - but only a little scared.

"Glacey!" came the nice little squeal of the ice type as he ran over to his trainer, nuzzling her leg. He then ran over to Misty and also nuzzled her as he remembered her from the day prior, which earned him a little pet on the head from the smiling girl.

Smiling, May gave him a bit of a petting before turning to Dawn. "You know Glaceon's moves, don't you?" she asked, earning a mildly confused nod. "Alright, get Misty started with him. I have the feed the Pokemon, it's my job every morning - in...preparation of taking the gym over when I'm old enough," a faint sigh left her lips, caught only by Misty and Glaceon.

"Alright then, come on!" the bluenette called, leading Misty and Glaceon away from the barn. Explaining the basics to her friend, Dawn smiled and gently petted the icy canine that stood by her. "Alright, Misty. Glaceon's moves are Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball and Dig. A simple moveset with a lot of potential,...though May mostly designed it for Pokemon contests as opposed to battling. So. I'll let you battle my Pachirisu," she threw the poke ball in the air and out popped a little electric squirrel, who began to run around rampantly. Until it jumped onto it's trainer's head and used Discharge.

Gasping at the electricity that built up around Dawn, the shy girl closed her eyes for a few minutes until a sharp 'ow' was heard. Chancing a look, Misty looked at her friend with worry. "Um...a-are you a-alright, Dawn?"

Despite her hair being sparked and frizzed in many ways, Dawn managed to a smile and said. "Yeah, she does this all the time. Alright, Pachirisu. I need you to do a couple of battles for me, so Misty can practice her battling skills."

"Pachi-pachi!" came the little squeaks as the Pokemon got into position for battling, it seemed like she was prepared for anything and very confident at that. Almost as if she was prepared to taunt and torment Glaceon, or just mess with him. Whatever she was planning might be bad and it left Misty curious on what moves she could potentially utilise.

"Um...uh...okay..." whispered Misty, as she glanced nervously at Glaceon. "Um, Glaceon...use Dig!" she said in haste, knowing the the ground type move would be very effective on the electric type. Sensing his 'trainer's' nerves, Glaceon was a bit hesitate in lunging under ground and it was clear that Dawn also noticed this.

"Pachirisu, follow into the hole and use Discharge!" squeaking out, her Pokemon leapt into the hole that Glaceon had dug. Only a few seconds later, the sparkling of electricity was heard and the ground ripped open with Glaceon yipping out in pain.

"Glaceon!" screamed Misty, louder than her normal voice showed. There was panic there and the worry of not preforming up to Glaceon's expectations. Running over, she gently accessed the damage done to the ice type. Even if the injures were minor, guilt still seeped into her conscious. Tears dribbled down her face as she whispered out. "...I-I'm sorry...Glaceon...I...should...have considered..."

Suddenly her cheek felt wet and she glanced at the ice type, seeing him gently licking her face. "Glaceon-glacey," was the simply cry of the Pokemon as he pulled himself together and stood prepared for battle even to Misty's shock.

"Y-you can continue?" she whispered, earning a fierce nod from the Eeveelution. "A-alright then," she said, deciding that she'd need to step up her game if she wanted to prove herself. Trying to build her confidence, she decided to start with a low, non-stuttery voice that she could gradually built up. "Okay. Use Ice Beam."

During this time, May had finished with the Pokemon and walked over as her Pokemon leapt into the air and breathed out a beam of ice down towards Pachirisu. Surprised was a mild understatement as she felt like it'd take longer than a few minutes before Misty had any semblance of confidence. Turning to look at Dawn, she heard the call of "Dodge it!" as she commanded her Pachirisu to dodge the oncoming Ice Beam, narrowly escaping the ice type attack. "Now, use Sweet Kiss!"

Seemingly smiling at the choice of move, Pachirisu puckered up her lips and a bright pink heart escaped. Since Glaceon had been jumping down from the last attack, it was too late when Misty made the call to dodge and poor Glaceon was hit by the heart. But, instead of being damaged, his eyes became less sharp and more confused. Looking down at the ice type, Misty also became confused as she had never seen the effect of confusion and was surprised after she made the call to use "Iron Tail," that Glaceon began spinning around and ended up slapping himself with his own tail.

Having enough, May yelled out in explanation. "Misty, he's confused. There's a chance he may hit himself so be cautious, but it'll wear off soon!" and she waited to see what Misty would do in response to this.

Glancing at her friend, Misty gave a nervous nod as she looked down at the confused Pokemon. "...Um, Glaceon. Can you hear me," she got a growl in response, signalling that the ice type could indeed hear her. "Okay. USE IRON TAIL ON YOURSELF!" she suddenly yelled, without warning as she thought up a plan. A surprised yelp left Glaceon's mouth, but he was in no position to argue. So as his tail glowed a metallic sliver, he spun around and hit himself several times with the same move to everyone's, except Misty's, surprise. "Now, Ice Beam!"

Seeming snapped out of confusion, Glaceon charged forward and once he was at close range - he breathed out the beam of ice and since Pachirisu had been taken off guard, she was hit and was horrified to see her tail frozen. "Ahh, Pachirisu!" gasped Dawn, but she looked up at Misty. There was a confident aura surrounding the girl, much to her surprised. But it brought a smile to her as she chuckled. "Alright, Pachirisu. Use Quick Attack!" Charging around, heat began to build up and burned the slight freeze off the Pokemon's body and improved her speed over time. "Now, use Discharge at close range!"

"Pachirisu!" came the yell as electricity burst around the area, sparkling and bursting with energy until it hit Glaceon. It was no surprised that the ice type was stunned and even paralysed by the attack, but he held firm and stayed up despite the sparks of electricity bursting off his body.

"Glaceon, you think?" Misty asked, internally surprised by her confidence. She got a confident nod from the Pokemon and she called out her attack. "Use Dig!" A calm smile burst onto Glaceon's face as he dug into the ground once more.

Overcoming her surprise at seeing the ice type still standing, Dawn commented in a confused voice. "You already did this once. Pachirsu, follow and use Discharge again!" she made the command, seeing her little squirrel lung under ground to prepare for the same attack. Even with the sound of sparkling coming from the electric sacs, Dawn was surprised to see Misty's calm and confident smile still beaming on her face.

"Glaceon, Shadow Ball!" and that was it, Pachirisu was set flying out of the ground with a ball of shadowy energy not far behind her. One hit of the attack and Pachirisu fell to the ground, swirly eyed and very much unconscious. Taking a few minutes to analyse the scene, Misty smiled as Glaceon came up to her. "...We won, didn't we?"

"Pachirisu is definitely unable to battle," May decided as she looked at the electric type, who Dawn momentarily recalled a few moments after this decision was made. Glancing over to her friend, May chuckled and said. "I was honestly surprised by that, Misty. I didn't even think you had battle before."

A slight nervous chuckle left the skinny teenager's lips as she looked down at her feet, seemingly finding them more interesting. "...This isn't my first...battle...and d-definitely not my first with an...Eevee. My...last Eevee died a few years ago...but I used to b-battle in...my mom's gym...borrowing her water types."

"You're the daughter of a gym leader?" came the surprised response from Dawn, as she put her poke ball away. Sure May was also a gym leader's kid, but she had never expected the shy girl to be one as well. Especially after what she had mentioned the night before. Embarrassed, Misty gave a returning nod that caused Dawn to give a little smile. "That's certainly surprising. But it's understandable with the stragies you came up with. Using Dig to bait Pachirisu underground to instead turn around and use Shadow Ball, that was pretty good."

Blushing, Misty had happy about the compliments and began to explain about her battle strategies and how she had received them from her mom in her youth and how they had just remained with her over the years. "Y-yea...even though my mom was a water...gym leader...s-she used a water/ground type...s-so the d-dig plan was...a...constant in her gym battles..."

"I see, so you were just stealing your mom's battle plans," May chuckled, though she wasn't be malicious or anything. "Well, how about we try something else. That battle was on neutral territory. So lets see how you manage with a type disadvantage," and with that, Torchic popped out of his ball and ran into preparation. "Torchic isn't really trained for battle, so it'll be his first battle."

Nodding, Misty gently looked at Glaceon and petted him. "Lets do good...this time," she whispered, catching a super potion that May threw at her and quickly healed 'her' Pokemon. Standing ready, she relaxed herself and prepared herself for the battle. "Alright...Glaceon, start off with Dig!"

Chuckling, May made her command loud and clear. "Use Rock Tomb, prevent it from using Dig!"

"Tor!" came the squeal as Torchic threw rocks everywhere, stopping Glaceon in his tracks of digging. Misty gasped, knowing that Glaceon's speed was dropped after he was hit harshly with one of those rocks.

"A-are you alright?" she cried, looking at the injured ice type. He looked up at her and growled out a quick 'yes'. "A-alright, since we can't dig...use Shadow Ball!"

Opening his mouth, he summoned the shadowy ball of energy and sent it spirally towards Torchic. May noticed this and called out. "Double team!" as Torchic began to double team, Glaceon decided to act on his own accord and use Iron Tail in mid-charge to split up his Shadow Balls. By doing this, he hit every single one of the multiple Torchic clones and let the move hit.

"...Glaceon," gasped Misty, surprised by the Pokemon's actions. Though truthfully she had been thinking of asking for that, Glaceon jumped down and looked at her as if trying to read her thoughts. He gave a nod, indicating that he had essentially acted on his own - but thinking about what his 'trainer' would decide to do. "A-alright, use Ice Beam on the ground!"

"Glacey!" came the loud scream as the Pokemon's icy attack shot from his mouth and froze the ground surrounding Torchic. It was to trap him as he wouldn't be able to move without slipping.

"Nice plan, Misty," complimented May, before she smiled and continued in a confident voice. "However Torchic, use Flamethrower!" the loud yell from the Hoenn girl was quick to alert her fire type. Her Pokemon inhaled deeply and with a cry of his name, his mouth burst open as flames burst out of it. Said flames burst around the grass, but not burning a second blade as it ran towards the ice type on the other side.

"Use Dig to dodge it!" listening to the command, Glaceon lunged under ground as Misty had used the move to her advantage to get underground where it was safe. "Stay under there, don't let Torchic know where you are!"

"Torchic, use Protect!" came the startling call from the Hoenn girl, as if she had something planned. A large green force field pop around the Pokemon, encasing the space around him until the border of the ice. Of course, she knew there was a mild flaw with the size of the force field and hoped that her friend wouldn't notice the mishap.

Her eyes darted around as she tried to decide something, a thought landed within her as she noticed the size of the force field. "Come up within the Protect! It won't extend under ground!" the call caused May's eyes to widen as Glaceon lunged out of the ground below her Torchic and attacked harshly, sending Torchic flying. "Now use Iron Tail!" with the brunt end of his silver tail, Glaceon smacked harshly into Torchic's airborne body and send him hurdling into the nearby wall.

"Torchic!" gasped the Hoenn trainer as she ran to pick up her unconscious Pokemon, sighing as she recalled him to his poke ball. "You fought well, good boy," she turned to Misty and grinned. "That was pretty impressive. I didn't think you'd notice that little error in the protect."

Smiling Misty gently petted Glaceon again and said. "I may have not...if I hadn't marked the ground with Ice Beam earlier," she said with a little chuckle, before indicating for Glaceon to go back to his trainer. "...I...think Glaceon's...an amazing Pokemon. Your lucky to have...him, May."

"Aw, thanks," came the delighted response as May recalled the ice type, she looked at her watch and then said. "Looks like it's nearly time to go, we still need breakfast and to get changed. So enough battling for now," and with that, the day began with the scrambling to head to school on time. Misty felt more confident and in a way, couldn't wait until the battles in the competition on Friday.

* * *

As little practice battles, I think they work. But that's beyond the point, hope you enjoyed and see you...whenever. Next chapter will be fun to write, since it's going to be quite long.


	11. Competition (New chapter in rewrite)

Alright, hello. This chapter has taken me quite some time to write, so I hope you enjoy all the different battles.

* * *

Friday came much faster than anyone could imagine, Misty had been training even more with Glaceon in the last few days. Not just her battling skills, but also her confidence levels and at last the day had come. The tournament was set so that there were multiple battles and the top 32 students of each year group would battle it out for first place. So the morning was full of the battles to determine this top 32 students. Standing nervously, Misty was being comforted by Glaceon and May. "I'm sure you'll get into the top 32, it can't be that hard!"

"B-but...there's 300 students in our year..." came the low confidence response as Misty gently petted the ice type's back. It was actually annoying Glaceon a bit with the lack of confidence that his 'trainer' was using, and he had to keep himself from using Ice Beam there and then. "...T-there's no way I can get through...to that stage. I-it's impossible..."

"So, you only have to do 2 tag-battles battles in the morning followed by 2 single battle and win every one to get in. Then you may have a chance to battle Ash, isn't that what you wanna do?" May responded, a little aggravated by her tangerine haired friend's lack of confidence.

Something lit up in Misty then, but she didn't want to inform May. Yes, she wanted to battle Ash and even if she knew she'd lose - she wanted to do it anyway. Suddenly a loud announcement was heard for students to head to the battles they had been assigned. Glancing down at the number she had been given: 31, and that meant she would be paired with 40 and was against number 12 and 60. Bidding goodbye and a quick good luck to May, she headed over to her assigned battle field. Truthfully, she was surprised the school could afford this much stuff. There had to be so many battles going off at the same time.

Then she remembered, since the morning was mostly tag battles - that meant she had to work with her partner. So, of course, it would be best to get to know his or her name in their first tag team. Since there were 300 students in their grade, which was middle school grade 2 (Or grade 8, I think. Little shaky on American standards). So that meant there would be 150 tag teams, so 75 battles going off at the same time in their year alone. Then only 75 teams could proceed onto the next round, which wasn't a elimination round anymore. Only 50 teams could make it through, so 25 teams would be removed based on their performance instead of their win/lose. Thus the last 50 would split up, leaving 100 students on their own. And they needed to make it down to 32 teams. So they'd first do a elimination round, leaving it down to 50 students. And the best 32 students could get in based on performance.

It sounded simple, but considering the tag teams battles would be near difficult. Finding her partner's number wasn't hard, it was a female with a Quilava at her side. Possible of Johto descent, she smiled at Misty and said. "I'm gonna assume you're my partner for the tags?" her voice was energetic and playful, almost as if she was 5 years younger than her actual age. "My name is Lyra Crystal, and I'm from Johto. Here's my partner, Cyndy the Quilava," her Pokemon growled a little, playfully prancing around. "Sorry about my Quilava's energy, she can't wait to get battling."

Surprised a little by the nicknaming, Misty manage to find her voice and whisper out. "...Um...I'm Misty Waterflower, from Cerulean city. T-this is my partner, Glaceon" she said, glancing down at the ice type at her feet. The two Pokemon seemed to hit it off, despite their contrasting personalities and types for that matter. In her mind, she made the quick decision to not mention that Glaceon wasn't even hers. It felt wrong, especially if they were supposed to be working together. That and May had said that for today, Glaceon belonged to her and nobody else.

As their opponents arrived, the battle started under the announcers rules. The announcer was a short girl with 2 flags in her hands, as she called out. "The battle ends when both Pokemon on the opposite team is knocked out. It's a simple 2 on 2 battle, so no other Pokemon are allowed to be used," once she received the nods from both sides, she made the call. "Alright, battle start!"

On the other side was a Leafeon and Riolu, quite an interesting combination. Making a quick call, Lyra charged forward with her Quilava imitating her actions. "Alright, Quilava. Flamethrower on the Riolu!" flames burst across the field, near hitting the Riolu as it dodged out of the way.

Following her team mate's quick lead, Misty deciding to give a smile and set the field up. "Glaceon, Ice Beam on the ground!" she said, confidence building in her as she forced no stutters. With a short growl of approval, Glaceon's ice breath burst across the field and froze every inch of the battle field to the audience's surprise.

"What could the Glaceon trainer be planning, folks?" the announcer called out, surprise evident in her voice. But then, when Glaceon's began to slide around the field as if he was a ice skater - it seemed like things were making sense. Riolu couldn't stand up, being a bipedal creature and Leafeon's feet kept getting stuck to the slippy ice. As for Quilava, it seemed like Lyra knew what she was doing as she had set up a strong Flame Wheel around her Pokemon so that it burnt away some of the ice that surrounded it.

"Glaceon, use Ice Beam on Leafeon at close range!" Misty called, as her Glaceon charged forward like a graceful ice skater. Smirking as he got close to the grass type, who was unable to move amongst all the ice. With one sharp breath later, ice flew out of his mouth and froze the grass type solid. That lucky freeze was enough for Quilava to come in and use her built up Flame Wheel to finish the poor grass type off. On the other side of the field, Riolu still couldn't find it's footing to it's trainers annoyance.

He yelled out loudly, trying to help Riolu stand. "Riolu use Blaze Kick on the ground!" Lunging up, somehow, the little Riolu's feet began to burn brighter and brighter until it was on fire. Landed down on the ground, a puff of smoke filled the field. Once it dispersed, Riolu was standing on the solid ground once more without the fear of ice. This brought a chuckle to it's owner's face. "Alright, Brick Break on Glaceon!"

"Quilava, Protect Glaceon!" Lyra responded, as her Pokemon nodded and charged in front of the surprised ice type. With a quick smirk, a large force field popped up around the pair of Pokemon. Brick Break was noted for being able to break for Reflect and Light Screen, but not being able to break through the Protect very easily. This gave Misty time to think.

Unable to use Dig due to the mountain of ice, she glanced her head at Lyra and earned a nod as she planned out her next move. As the Protect finally broke under the heavy fists of the fighting type, Glaceon leapt up off the floor and used the move that Misty had commanded him to. Shadow Ball burst from his mouth, only to broken into smaller balls of shadow by Iron Tail. Whilst lower in power, the move had more range and Riolu was unable to dodge without being hit. At least 2 little Shadow Balls smacked into it's baby form. Unable to stand, this gave Lyra the chance to call out. "Flamethrower!"

And with that burst of fiery air, the battle was sealed for the girls. "Riolu is unable to battle, Glaceon and Quilava are the winners," the announcer made the call, smiling at Lyra and Misty. "Good teamwork was on display from their trainers, with the use of Protect and the Ice Beam battle field."

"Yeah! We won!" came the loud excitable yell from Lyra as she ran over to Misty, Quilava charging with her. She hugged Misty tightly, before pulling away from the surprised girl and complimented her battling style with that giant smile that burst on her expression. "That...was...amazing! I never would have thought about using Ice Beam as a field move, blocking out our opponent's attacks."

"..T-to be honest," Misty responded, her voice lower than it had been during the battle. Her nervous nature back for revenge, well unable the next battle at the very least "...I hadn't even accounted for Quilava...I wasn't sure if she'd be able to stand after I made the call. S-so your choice to use Flame Wheel caught me off guard..."

The two just smiled at each, chuckling a little. Eventually Lyra said. "Well, we made it through the first round so lets heal up and get ready for the next one," and with that they headed off to the nearby Nurse Joy, asking for their Pokemon to be healed and then they waited for them to be returned. "I wonder what Pokemon we'll be up against next, do you think you'd be able to do the Ice Beam trick again?"

"...It depends,...if there's an ice type on the other side - then it's impossible...or if there's a Pokemon that's either a flying type or has the ability Levitate," explained the smaller girl, looking down at the ground for a moment. "...T-though I have a plan f-for flying types?"

"Freeze their wings?" came the unexpected reply, surprising Misty back into looking at Lyra's crystal blue eyes. Bouncing her brown hair, Lyra just chuckled. "I have a ice type of my own, a little Snorunt that can knock flying types out of their air. So I'm used to that plan. I didn't bring her in because she's a little too weak for battles and Quilava has always been my battler. Ya know, once I turn 16, I plan to head back to my home region to head around the region to collect gym badges and what not. What do you plan to do afterwards?"

"...I don't really know," whispered Misty as she received Glaceon's poke ball back from Nurse Joy and began to head towards the next battle field. "...To be honest, I had...always wished to go on...one when I was y-younger...with my Eevee, but..." she shuddered a little, surprising Lyra a little as she believed the Eevee that the young Cerulean girl mentioned was Glaceon.

"Why are you shuddering, isn't Eevee still here as Glaceon?" Lyra responded as they made it to the field, standing around waiting for the next battle to begin. She looked at Glaceon with curiosity, earning a look of confusion from said Pokemon.

"N-no...Glaceon, he isn't really mine. I-I'm borrowing him f-from my f-friend, since my only Pokemon is...t-too young to battle," a little tear escaped Misty's eyes as she shuddered once more, not wishing to mention what had happened to her Eevee. "Eevee...I can't say it, j-just...lets get through the next battle."

Not wanting to harm Misty's psyche, Lyra nodded as their opponents arrived with their Pokemon. This team, it was a Pidgeotto and Ivysaur. The announcer arrived on the field and made the call. "We have Pidgeotto and Ivysaur, two native Kanto Pokemon versus two Pokemon, Glaceon and Quilava, discovered by researchers from another region. Will our native region win or will the others win? Remember, this battle is all about the performance and not so much the winning. Show off your Pokemon's skills well and you'd be part of the top 50 teams. And with that, battle begin!"

Starting off strong and win, Misty yelled out. "Glaceon, Ice Beam!" nodding his head, Glaceon charged forward and breathed out his icy breath. The beam of ice charged for the Pidgeotto, barely missing it as it attempted to dodge. However, the closeness of the attack was still enough to numb the wing quite a bit. This left it wobbly and unable to fly straight, much to the owner's annoyance.

"Pidgeotto, use Steel Wing on Glaceon!" the owner responded, as his Pokemon's wings burst off into a silver glow as it charged towards Glaceon. All whilst this was happening, the two starters were battling it out with the clear advantage being on Quilava's side.

"Glaceon, deflect it with Iron Tail!" leaping up, Glaceon's metallic tail made contact with the wings and they clashed multiple times with the banging of steel. "Now, Ice Beam!" at the close range, there was no time for dodging as the ice smacked straight into Pidgeotto's form. The powerful attack left it unstable and open for the next move, which would certainly knock it out. "Use Iron Tail!"

"Glacey!" came the screech as he lunged into the air and smacked the flying type to the ground, it was enough to make it faint. Praising Glaceon for good work, Misty glanced at Quilava and was surprised to see she was poisoned with a Leech Seed surrounding her body. Whilst Lyra was gasping out, unable to make the move due to Ivysaur's close concentration. Anything could happen if she called out 'Flame Wheel' to burn the 'vines' off her Pokemon.

"Alright, Glaceon. Ice Beam!" charging forward, the icy attack smacked straight into the unsuspecting Ivysaur as it's focus had been purely on the fire starter that it was slowly sapping the energy form. This allowed Lyra chance to call for Flame Wheel, which burst the Leech Seed off the fire type's body before she charged towards the opponent with that blazing wheel of fire. That was enough, combined with the ice beam to finish the battle.

* * *

As noon came around, Lyra was still hanging around Misty as both of them had made it through to the next round. Even after they had separated, their respective performances had shocked the judges. In particular Misty's ice beam field and Lyra's surprising Wild Charge which she hadn't even showed off in the first two battles of the day. "We may end up battling later today," she commented, looking at the prepping board since it was supposed to show how the battles would be formatted for the top 32 in grade 8. "I kinda want to. Despite your shy nature, you may a complete one-eighty when your battling."

Eventually the score updated itself. Glancing up at it herself, Misty was surprised to find she was in block A and she then glanced at her opponent's name. Dawn?! She had to go against one of her friends so soon? But, she shook her head and decided not to think like that as she looked down at Glaceon. "D-do you think you can do it, boy? B-battling against Piplup?"

"Glaceon," the mild growl like his throat, as if insulted that Misty's confidence in him as dropping. But he did understand that her confidence showed out more during battles, so he didn't get too angry. Glancing at the scoreboard himself, he saw that his own trainer was in block B along along with Ash and Drew. The others on their side was Paul and a boy that Ash had mentioned called Gary.

A loud announcement ran over their ears, calling for everyone to head to their battle fields. Smiling down at Glaceon, Misty said good luck to Lyra and headed off to the location. Already waiting there was Dawn with Piplup by her side, before turning and smiling at Misty. "To be honest, I was surprised to find out that we were battling so early and especially after all these practice battles we did," this earned a nod of agreement from Misty, who blushed a little. She truthfully hadn't wished to battle any of her friends until much later.

"Alright, girls," the announcer said, smiling at the two of them. "It's time to start," the girls made it to their locations on the battle field. "Alright, Piplup versus Glaceon. Two Sinnoh Pokemon, who will win? No other Pokemon are allowed to be used, but with that said - battle begin!"

"Piplup, Whirlpool! Trap him!" yelled Dawn, as her little penguin ran forward with his wings flapping. Summoning a large whirlpool above him, he threw it towards Glaceon and trapped him within the swirling water attack.

"Ah, Glaceon!" gasped Misty, but she tried to figure out how to escape. Eventually a plan came to her, and she was quite to execute it. "Use Iron Tail!" it seemed quite quickly that Glaceon knew what to do. Sticking his metallic tail out, the swirling of the Whirlpool came to a stop and the move disperse. Thus Glaceon fell to the ground, landing gracefully with a nice saying of his name. "Now, Dig!"

Charging underground, Glaceon stayed below the surface as Piplup looked around frantically. Gasping, Dawn didn't know what to do as she couldn't of how she was going to escape this. Especially after the Dig/Shadow Ball plan that caught her off guard during their training, she'd need a different method if she wanted to win this battle. Eventually her eyes widened and she yelled out. "Drill Peck!"

"Pip-lup-lup!" came the scream as Piplup used his beak to drill into the ground, until it came across Glaceon. He had been waiting patiently underground and, like his 'trainer', was very surprised by the Drill Peck that had discovered him. As if reacting quickly and knowing what Misty wanted without her saying it, he shot a Shadow Ball at Piplup's oncoming face. Due to the closeness and the progressing attack, he was caught of guard and was sent flying.

"Piplup!" gasped Dawn, having not expecting to surprising attack due to the lack of call. But then she remembered that Misty didn't always make her call, it was clear that she was very able to battle with Glaceon and not always have to call. "Alright then. Piplup, use Hydro Pump!" breathing in and collecting the water within him, Piplup was quick to sent the water flying.

"Glaceon, deflect it with Ice Beam!" the icy attack paused the Hydro Pump and the stalemate began. "More power!" Misty yelled, earning a streak of more ice into the attack and due to the fact Glaceon was an evolved Pokemon - it was enough to break through the Hydro Pump and land squarely on Piplup. But due to type disadvantage, it wasn't enough to knock him out just yet.

"Piplup, Drill Peck!" despite the move being flying, Piplup nodded his head and went charging towards Glaceon. Smirking a little, Misty made the call and yelled for Glaceon to dodge followed by Ice Beam. Surprised by the attack, Piplup's beak was sealed shot. This prevented to use of Piplup's moves, with the exception of Whirlpool as every other move required his mouth - including his unused Ice Beam. "Ahh, Piplup," his trainer gasped, looking at Misty. The tangerine haired girl was smiling gracefully. "Alright then, Piplup. Use Hydro Pump!"

It would take a while for the water to melt the ice built up on Piplup's beak, which gave Misty enough time to make her move and yell out to Glaceon. "Use Shadow Ball!" the move was sent spirally towards the penguin Pokemon, who couldn't dodge in time due to trying to thaw out his beak. His eyes widened just as the attack hit him and caused him to fall over, unconscious and making Misty to clear winner of the battle.

"Piplup is unable to battle, Glaceon is the winner!" the obvious announcement came as Glaceon ran back to his 'trainer', with a graceful smile on his face that matched the one on Misty's face. Gently, she petted the Pokemon as the announcer continued. "Thus, Misty will be going onto round 2 to battle her next opponent in the tournament."

Sighing, Dawn recalled Piplup to his poke ball and walked to Misty. "That was a great battle, she surprised me with your plan for beating Piplup's whirlpool by stopping the spinning with Iron Tail. I would have never thought about that and then preventing my moves with Ice Beam, that...was admitting quite annoying. Especially since it had already been proven that I couldn't use Whirlpool against Glaceon."

"Glacey," came the confidence call, as Glaceon nuzzled against Misty's leg. It was clear that he was quite proud of himself for winning and was still amazed by Misty's battle strategies. If...he didn't already love May and the plans for Pokemon contests, he might have asked to be traded to Misty. But he knew that both his own trainer and the Cerulean girl would wish for him to remain with the brown haired beauty, and he wanted to stay with her himself.

* * *

After getting through the second round, which was quite easy as the opponent had a Tropius. Since the Pokemon had a heavy weakness to ice attacks, it went down with only a few Ice Beams after she shut down the Pokemon's attempts to use Leech Seed. But, as she glanced at the board, she was mildly afraid of his next opponent. It was the boy that Ash talked about, Gary Oak. He was a son of the region's professor and was using a Umbreon, a Pokemon capable of the powerful move 'Psychic'. As she was well aware that levitation could be a problem, so she knew that she'd need to prevent Umbreon from moving as soon as possible.

As she slowly walked to the field, she came face to face with a mahogany haired boy with an Umbreon at his side. He looked incredible confidence, if cocky, and ready for anything. "So your Ashy boy's new sister," he commented upon noticing her, that cocky grin evident on his face. But he moved over to her and said. "I've heard that you've been proving quite capable in battle, so I hope for a good one."

And it wasn't long before the battle was on, the two Eeveelutions stood opposite one another. The announcer looked between the two trainers and their Pokemon, before making the call. "Two evolutions of Eevee, this is quite a regular battle due to the many evolutions of the Pokemon. I wonder which will win as there is no type advantages. Good luck to both competitors and thus battle begin!"

"Um, alright," whispered Misty, trying to get her composure together. But it wasn't long before she made the quick call of. "Ice beam on the floor!" it had been a while since she used this method, but she knew that she needed to prevent Umbreon from moving. As the field turned to ice, she tried to give a confident smile. "Alright, now use Iron Tail!"

Gracefully, Glaceon skidded across the floor. However, his eyes widened upon seeing Umbreon's eyes glowing. Backing away fast, he was shocked to see Umbreon using Psychic to levitate himself off the floor. Whilst being shocked, Misty knew she could use this to her advantage. Since Umbreon's move had to be draining his energy, that meant there would be less chance of Glaceon being hit with Psychic. Locking her eyes onto her ice type, she nodded in command for Iron Tail to still happen.

Leaping off the ground with the speed similar to a Pikachu, due to his ability on ice terrain such as the one that he had created mere minutes prior. One swipe of the Iron Tail slammed into Umbreon's back and sent it hurdling back into the ice field, Psychic no longer in use. Frowning, Gary looked at his Pokemon and made the quick decision to use. "Dark Pulse!" the dark type attack was sent from Umbreon's mouth before it hit the ground, spiralling towards Glaceon and catching him as he landed on the ground.

Feeling the brunt of the attack, Glaceon was sent back and began to growl a little in pain and frustration - mainly at himself for letting the move harm him as he hit the ground. "Are you alright, Glaceon?" Misty gasped, earning a sharp nod from her Pokemon as he glared at Umbreon. Despite the other Pokemon looking rather weak from the use of Psychic and being hit by Iron Tail, he knew that his own body wasn't going to be able to take another one of those Dark Pulses easily. Gasping, Misty cried out. "Use Ice Beam!"

"Dark Pulse!" the confident response from Gary came through. The two attacks collided and fought for power, both refusing to give up. However, it turned out that Umbreon's Dark Pulse was more powerful as it ripped through the Ice Beam and hit Glaceon's body mere seconds later. However, the Ice Beam didn't fade away and was hit his body as well. Both Pokemon stood on the icy field, both looking weak and growling out in pain. For a little while, it seemed like neither Pokemon would collapsed as the audience watched intently.

But the pain was too much and Glaceon fell to the ground first, unconscious for the first time that day. Crying out her Pokemon's name, Misty ran forward and picked up the unconscious ice type in a frantic panic. "Glaceon..." she whispered, holding the Pokemon close as a faint tear emerged in her eye. If only she thought about Umbreon using Psychic on himself, maybe she would have used that first Ice Beam to actually attack as opposed to setting up the field. Recalling the ice type to his ball, she stood up and didn't let Gary see the faint tears in her eyes.

"Glaceon is unable to battle, Umbreon is the winner! Thus Gary Oak will be going to the semi finals, to battle against Paul Shinji!" the call came, but Misty didn't even hear it in her distress. She could almost hear May's impressed comment in her head 'that it was good she made it as far as she did', but she didn't listen to it as she just walked off the field without a word. A little frown was on her face, until she heard a voice calling her name that caused her to jerk her head up and look at May with teary eyes.

Amongst exactly like how her thoughts at told her, May gave a little smile and said. "Don't worry too much, Misty. At the end of the day, Gary is quite a strong opponent and it's understandable as to why you lost to him. Don't worry though, Paul will knock him down next round. I know that Ash made it through to the semis, beating me at that," she sighed at that, but there was a chuckle there as well. "Truthfully, I didn't expect to get as far as I did. Ash is battling Drew in the next round, so how about we go and watch our boyfriends battle."

"B-but..." Misty blushed, trying to deny the boyfriend comment. Whilst she had admitted she loved someone in the sleepover a few days ago, she never said who it was. Despite that, she knew that May must have known - her reactions and the fact that the only other men she knew were already taken. It was quite obvious when she thought about it. "...H-he's not my...b-boyfriend..." after a few more seconds, she added a little more when she saw May's expecting face glancing back at her. "...yet..."

Laughing, May said as she sat down at the stands of the battle field that Ash was going to battle at. "That sounds better, I'm sure that once you're out of foster care then you'll be confessing your love to him. I'll even help you script out the best confession ever," she said, as she called out her Skitty. The little Pokemon curled up on her lap, allowing her trainer to pet her gently. "Mine and Ash's battle was interesting," she commented, before explaining what she meant. "He used a tactic I would never have seen him use prior."

* * *

 _"Battle start!" the announcer called as she looked between the opposing Pokemon and their trainers. Beautifly gracefully called out a few squeaks as Pikachu cried out his name, completely ready to battle. May smiled, reaching up to get Beautifly a little pet as she thought about how she could slow Ash's Pikachu down in the first moment. Little did she know was Ash was thinking about what she could do. "Um...battle start?" the announcer said again, noticing neither said was starting the battle._

 _"Beautifly, use Psychic!" May yelled out, as her Pokemon cried out loud. Her eyes glowed a bright blue as she levitated Pikachu up off the ground, much to the little mouse Pokemon's surprise as he yelled out his name multiple times as he tried to escape the 'prison'. Smirking a little at the sight, May bounced up as she called out her very next move. "Now, use Silver Wind whilst keeping Pikachu in mid air!" the white light attack spun around and around until it came much closer to Pikachu, who gasped out in a mixture of fear and worry._

 _"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, mere moments before the Silver Wind hit. Deciding his plan, within only those few seconds that he had to come up with an escape and a protection plan. He only had a few mere seconds to execute it as he yelled out "USE IRON TAIL!" Reacting momentarily, Pikachu's lightning tail glowed silver and was forced up by brunt strength against Beautifly's Psychic. Just in time, it blocked the Silver Wind and surprised both May and Beautifly. This surprise caused the Psychic to stop being used. "Now, Volt Tackle!"_

 _Electricity burst around Pikachu's body, as he yelled out. "Pika!" before charging forward, those sparks sparkled all around. Lunging apart, Pikachu hit Beautifly's frail body within minutes of the attack being called. As he bounced back, he finished his cry. "Chu~!" the attack then exploded, Pikachu came out of it nearly unscathed due to his Lightning Rod ability. However, Beautifly wasn't as lucky as she was sent flying back with a cry of pain. As Pikachu landed on the floor, he glanced skywards and saw the bug/flying type barely able to move. But then he flinched, as the pain of recoil built in his body - with the start being his tail, which became burnt from the overpowering electricity. His Lightning Rod wasn't enough to stop this._

 _"Pikachu, you think you'll be alright?" Ash asked, looking at his Pokemon's burnt tail. It was then that he realised that Iron Tail would be near impossible to preform without being extremely painful. Once he got a 'Pika' for 'yes', he nodded his head and called out. "Quick Attack!" smirking, Pikachu's body glowed white as he charged forward with near blinding speed._

 _"Beautifly, dodge and use Morning Sun!" came the response as May pulled herself together, as Beautifly just managed to dodge in time - though her wing was caught in the crossfire. She yelled out as the sun brightened, light emerged around her. Becoming brighter and brighter as her health was recovered. As a relieved smile burst onto May's face, she yelled out with a confident voice "Now, use Energy Ball!"_

 _A bright green ball was summoned in front of the bug type, before being sent spirally towards Pikachu. However, Ash's smile never left his face as he called out. "Pikachu, dodge with Quick Attack!" just as the Energy Ball was about to hit, Pikachu yelled out as he charged out of the way. Hitting the ground, the grass type attack exploded and gently burnt Pikachu's tail. "I know this is going to hurt, but this is our finale attack. VOLT TACKLE!"_

 _"PIKACHU~!" The loud scream left the electric mouse's mouth as he charged forward, the electricity building and trying to explode before it was time. As he slammed into Beautifly, the same explosion occurred as before. However he winced at the recoil damage, this time burning his four paws and the tips of his ears. Both Pokemon looked at each other, as their trainers waited with both of them hoping. Eventually Beautifly fainted in mid air and fell to the ground, much to May's horror and clear surprise._

 _"Beautifly is unable to continue, Pikachu is the winner. The one progressing to the semi-finals is Ash Ketchum!" the announcer said, before he then looked at May's stiff and near teary form. "Don't feel so bad, Miss Maple. You put up an amazing fight."_

 _Nodding, May recalled Beautifly to her poke ball. Looking at Ash, she saw him gently checking over Pikachu's injures. "Is Pikachu going to be alright, that recoil damage seemed to have hurt?" she whispered, nervously at the Pokemon. Truthfully, she was shocked that Ash would risk everything using Volt Tackle like he did. However, it did allow him to win so she couldn't complain._

 _"Yes, I think he'll be," Ash responded, gently petting the Pokemon before turning to him. "Would you go into your poke ball, so I can get Nurse Joy to heal you before the next battle?" once he saw the disappointed look on the Pokemon's face, he sighed and went to bribery. He needed Pikachu to be healed, or they'd be at a huge disadvantage for the next round. "I'll make you some ketchup on spaghetti later on?" that did the trick as Pikachu returned himself to the red and white poke ball - which had a lightning bolt attached to the front. Looking up at May, he grinned. "That was a good battle, thanks."_

 _"...Y-you too," came the response, though it was more nervous then she was used to. Truthfully, she had wished to be able to battle Drew at least once. But, of course, the only way she would have managed that would have been to get into the semis. That, clearly, didn't happen._

* * *

"So...he used Volt Tackle...despite knowing the recoil?..." whispered Misty, as she spotted Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, with Togepi sat on her lap - the little Pokemon was a little annoyed about spending the whole day in her ball. It took all her willpower to not wave to him, but she didn't wish to embarrass herself...or distract Ash from the battle. However, the boy noticed her and waved up anyway. That was embarrassing enough as everyone else looked at her, surprised by the two teenagers' short interaction. Luckily, Drew appeared shortly after and caught the attention of his fan girls. The announcer stepped forward, looking between the two competitors - both were very confident.

"Good luck, Ash," Drew said, with Roselia standing in front of him. He looked very confident amongst his green hair, earning a gasp of awesome from all his fan girls that stood on the front row. Whilst May would have joined in, but she instead rolled her eyes at the multiple girls. Whilst her friends knew about her and Drew's relationship, not everyone did and certainly non of the fan girls. She didn't want to get on the bad side of any of them, however she had decided that win or lose - she would kiss him at the end of the battle.

"You too," Ash responded in kind, Pikachu leapt from his shoulder and stood prepared. The two stared at each other, confidence reigning over the field. To everyone in the audience, it was evident that Drew had the type advantage with his grass/poison type. However, many of them also knew that Pikachu had beaten many Pokemon in prior battles despite having type disadvantages - even against ground types, something he shouldn't be able to beat easily. "So, Drew. You think you can beat me?" this earned a confident nod from the green haired boy.

Smiling at the two boys, the announcer decided to talk. "Alright, so here we have. Pikachu, a huge threat from earlier battles using the Volt Tackle technique, and Roselia, the poison queen. Which will win, how about we find out. So battle begin!" she yelled out, starting to battle right away. Backing away, she wanted for the first call to be made by the two trainers.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash called instantly, as his electric type charged forward in blinding light. However, Drew wasn't discourage and made no true call. Instead he just made indications to his Pokemon, who caught Pikachu with her Vine Whip. Suddenly she grinned and spat out a ball of poison. "Toxic," gasped Ash, realising instantly that his Pokemon had became badly poisoned. It was a move that would slowly sap at his energy. Bubbles of poison popped above the head as a faint blush blurred on his yellow features. "Do you think you'll be alright?"

"P-pikachu!" the response came shortly after, stuttering but confident. Pikachu would do anything, even going through the heavy poison. They had only a few minutes before he'd would faint from the poisonous attack. Knowing what to do, Ash yelled out his move. Which Pikachu soon executed, heading underground with the move Dig. Drew looked around frantically, as he had no moves that could prevent the Dig.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash yelled, as Pikachu lunged out of the ground below Roselia. First the dirt attacked the grass/poison type, clearly damaging her before the metallic tail slapped multiple times into her. This slowly drained at the Pokemon's energy, making her as weak as Pikachu at the present moment. The audience watched curious of what Ash planned to do next, whilst Misty silently prayed that Ash would win. She nearly didn't want to look in case Pikachu fainted from the poison.

"Roselia, use Giga Drain!" Drew cried out in frustration after Iron Tail hit for the 3rd time, as Roselia attached her vines to the Pikachu's body and began to drain energy from his body to recover her own. Suddenly Pikachu's tail glowed silver again, ripping through the vines under Ash's wishes. Lunging back, he got to a comfortable distance away from grass type he was fighting against.

"Alright, Pikachu. Quick Attack!" whilst this tactic had failed before, it was too late now to go anything else really as Pikachu had been wobbling for the last minute or so from the poison he was inflicted with. With a cry of his name, Pikachu scampered forward with blazing speed until he slammed into Roselia's frail body. Apparently this was enough to send her flying into the nearby wall. Collapsing to the ground, it was soon revealed that she had fallen unconscious. Whilst Pikachu was in no state to battle after the attack, he was still conscious and thus the default winner of the battle.

"Roselia is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner. Thus Ash Ketchum is progressing to the finals, look forward to this folks. I have just recieved information from the other battle field that his opponent will be Paul Shinji and his Electabuzz," the announcer said, smiling as Pikachu finally collapsed to the ground with a thumbs up. Both him and his trainer were excited, they had been preparing to beat Paul for the last few days. Ash picked up his electric type's near unconscious body. Recalling him to his poke ball, he whispered to him 'good work' before looking at an approaching Drew.

"That was an amazing battle, I thought for sure that I'd win after I used Toxic on your Pokemon. I never expected you to be able to make it through that and still come out on top. I'm sure you'll be Paul in the finals, you have to be to be honest," he laughed, giving Ash's a thumbs up. "Good luck out there, champ," just after he said this, he felt something hug him from behind. He didn't even need to look to know who was there. "Yes, May?"

"You were amazing, Drew!" she yelled, before reaching up and kissing him square on the lips. "That's your prize for getting this far," she whispered, near seductively as many of Drew's fan girls raged in frustration. Even if she had just made like 30 enemies, she really couldn't care. Smiling, she turned to Ash and said. "Good work as well, I was quite amazed that Pikachu was able to hold out as long as he did. Misty was worried sick about him, whilst to be honest: I didn't really mind which of you won."

"Misty was worried sick?" he whispered with mild confusion - though there was almost happiness mixed in -, before turning to the girl sitting in the stands with a gentle smile, full of relief on her face. Smiling, he waved up to her. This earned him a bright blush, as well as a nervous wave back. "How's Misty be doing in the battles, I assume that she didn't make it into the semi finals?"

"No, she lost at the third round like me. Losing to Gary of all people, though she didn't tell me how she lost. Actually, she hadn't even handed me Glaceon back yet," she commented before shaking her head and adding in a kind voice. "Oh well, he is hers for the day so I don't really mind," smiling at her boyfriend and childhood friend. "I'll be watching the battle, so good luck to you."

Ash thanked her and stood at the other side of the field, waiting for Paul to arrive. During his wait, he sent Pikachu to Nurse Joy for a quick healing and it wasn't long before the electric rodent was back out of his poke ball - admitting annoyed at being forced into said ball - and just standing waiting. Eventually the purple haired boy turned up, unsurprising with Dawn by his side. Said girl quickly kissed him before running to join May, Drew and Misty up in the stands with a quick. "Good luck to both of you!"

The announcer returned, looking between the two confident trainers - neither saying a word to one another. "As I hope both of our contestants know, the finals is a 3-v-3 battle as opposed to the 1-v-1 that we have been hosting all day. I hope both of our trainers brought their three Pokemon?" this earned a look from both trainers, Paul holding his three balls in his hand whilst Ash looked down at Pikachu with 2 little balls in his pocket.

"...Three Pokemon?" whispered Misty, having not heard of this prior. Her voice was filled with worry as she looked at the two trainers. "...B-but I thought Ash only had 2 Pokemon...?...B-being his Charizard and Pikachu?..."

"That's exactly right," Drew responded to the shy girl, looking down at the battlefield with intent filled eyes. Truly, he was curious about how the battle between Ash and Paul would turn out. Both of them were incredible powerful trainers, so the battle could go in either's favour. "But I let him borrow my Absol, as we both kinda figured out that he would be the one to end up in the finals. It's up to him now as to how he uses her."

Back on the field, the announcer smiled and instantly said. "Will both trainers please release their first Pokemon?" With a faint smirk, Paul sent out his Aggron out of its poke ball. With a smile, Ash released Drew's Absol. Whilst the dark type was a little surprised to see Ash, she nodded her head and recalled how Drew had trained her to understand the black haired boy's battle plans. Ash recalled Absol's move set: Flamethrower, Flash, Dark Pulse and Sunny Day. He knew what he would do to set up.

"Alright, as you know this is a 3-on-3. No substitutions are allowed by either trainer, however the moves Baton Pass and other such moves that force a switch are allowed," smiling, looking back and forth at the two confident trainers. The announcer made the starting call, loud and clear to the entire crowd - audience and the trainers. "And with that said, battle begin! Good luck to you both."

"Absol!" Ash yelled in an instant after the 'battle begin' was said, earning a quick grunt from the feminine dark type. Needing to get this up instant, he yelled out without thinking. "Use Sunny Day!" he was well-aware of Aggron using Roar and needed to preform this face, waiting as Absol roared out loud to summon a bright and near blinding sun. It would power up his fire type moves and not only that, his Charizard's ability was Solar Power which meant his moves would be more powerful under this weather.

"Roar, Aggron!" came the instant command, harsh and unfriendly. Nodding its head, Aggron gave a loud roar. This effectively terrified Absol and sent her running back into her poke ball in a bright red light. It was anyone's guess as to whether the poke ball in Ash's pocket or whether Pikachu would be force out next, and too everyone's shock - including Ash's.

"Gaorrrrrrr!" a loud roar filled the room as Charizard burst out of his poke ball with a blazing red flame, landing on the ground with a fierce thud. Showing no fear in front of the Pokemon with a potential heavily effective move, due to Aggron's steel and rock dual typing. Whilst, at first, shocked, Ash just laughed and patted Charizard's neck. Whilst normally the fire/flying type would send Flamethrower into his trainer's head - this time, he didn't as there was more important things to accomplish under the heavy sun.

Feeling his power increasing from his ability, he glowed a fiery red that blazed amongst his orange skin and made him look like a living fire. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!" The fire move's power was already increased from the sun, combining that with the heavy power boost from Solar Power was enough to create a very powerful breath of fire that was sent hurdling towards Aggron. Due to the Pokemon's steel/rock typing, the move was neutral. However, that didn't stop it from denting a huge chunk of Aggron's health.

"Aggron, Rock Slide!" Paul calmly said in a low voice, paying no attention to the obvious power boosts that Charizard was getting as he order his Pokemon. Rocks began to fall from the sky under Aggron's command. The purple haired boy just watched emotionless, fully expecting the effective move to knock the fire starter out of the sky and out of power.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled, Charizard flying about to dodge each rock as it crashed into the ground below. As the last rock hurdled towards the firey dragon-looking Pokemon. "Charizard, grab it!" with his fierce claws, Charizard grabbed hold of the rock and cracked it into pieces. It was a powerful display of brunt force, leading to the audience gasping in awe of the fire/flying type. "Now, use Flamethrower again!"

Bursting open his mouth, the fire burnt and spread until it slammed into Aggron - the Pokemon having not expected any of what Charizard had just did. That was enough to faint the Pokemon, due to the damage dealt earlier in the battle. Finding her voice, the announcer made the call. "Aggron is unable to battle, Charizard is the winner. Would Paul please send out his next Pokemon?"

"Good work, buddy!" Ash complimented, patting his fire type's neck. "Dad's training on you is paying off, lets continue. Shall we?" looking up, he knew that the sun wouldn't last much longer so he'd have to think about his next plan. What would Paul send out to counter Charizard, Electrabuzz - likely not as he was likely waiting for Pikachu to come out - or his Gastrodon, that Ash had seen in training. Eventually Paul threw his next poke ball down, revealing the water/ground type that Ash had been expecting. Sure, he had the type disadvantage. But water moves were weakened in heavy sun, and he had a trump card up his sleeve.

"Gastrodon, use Muddy Water!" the water that Gastrodon breathed out was all tainted in mud, it was quite horrible to look at. It smashed into Charizard's body, hurting him a little. However, he was left mostly unscathed as he roared out in fake pain to keep Gastrodon from knowing he wasn't hurt. Closing her eyes, Misty hoped that when she opened them that everything would be alright. That Ash would win. Chancing a look, she saw the fire/flying type standing firm without any pain. Then she remembered the sunlight that was still beaming on the field.

"Charizard!" came the yell from the fire type's trainer, preparing the audience for the next move. Everyone was on their edge of their seats, waiting for Ash's call to be heard. "SOLAR BEAM!" he yelled. Charizard opened his mouth, energy building from the sun and forcing the attack to charge within rapid speed and was sent hurdling towards the unsuspecting water/ground type. Truly, to have a move that was effective to move water and ground types was quite amazing. However, that wasn't the result of Red's training on Charizard. Ash had taught Charizard Solar Beam himself.

And really, with the attack as powerful as Solar Beam, it wasn't likely that Gastrodon would remain standing and it was too slow to dodge. However, it was still standing and there was an object near him. A broken sash. Ash growled a little as he recognised the item, a Focus Sash. An item that allowed the user to survive what would normally knock them out. Paul smirked, seeing that he had caught Ash off-guard and made the call. "Use Water Pulse!" the ball of blue energy burst across the field, just as the sun died down. Due to the lack of the sun, Charizard couldn't stay up under the force of the water type move. Falling to the ground, he made a grunt of annoyance before fainting.

Looking at the unconscious Pokemon, the announcer made the call "Charizard is unable to battle, Gastrodon is the winner. Would Ash send out his next Pokemon please?" and that left the audience anticipation who would come out next: Absol or Pikachu. Everyone thought that it wouldn't likely be the electric rodent that was sat patiently at Ash's side.

"Good work, Charizard. Return," Ash said, returning the lizard Pokemon to his ball and throwing another one onto the field. As it burst open, Absol was revealed to be the next up on the field with no worry of being sent back to her ball. A gleaming object swung around her neck, as Ash smiled confidently. "Hey, Paul. Do you think you're the only one with a surprise up their sleeve?" he yelled, earning a look of mild confusion from his rival. Grinning, he looked at Absol and made the call. "Use Dark Pulse!"

Since Gastrodon was so weak, it stood no chance and fainted to the ground. But he had served its role in Paul's eyes, as he recalled it. "Gastrodon is unable to battle, Absol is the winner. Would Paul show us his last Pokemon?" the announcer called, as Paul sent out his final and last Pokemon: his Electrabuzz. The electric type stood firm on the field, as confident as his trainer.

"Alright, Absol. You ready?" Ash asked, looking at the Electrabuzz. Earning a confident growl from Drew's Pokemon, he grinned and gently pulled out a little ball from around his neck. From his position watching, Drew chuckled and waited for Ash's actions. "Absol, MEGA EVOLVE!" he yelled, as the light energy from his key stone and the mega stone around Absol's neck merged - sending all its energy towards Absol. Bright majestic wings popped from the Pokemon's back as she roared out loudly and gracefully. "Use Flamethrower!" Ash yelled, quick after the mega evolution occurred.

Flames burst from Absol's mouth, powered by her new form. It hit Electrabuzz, who just took the attack and then smirked. With the close range, Paul knew what to do. "Predictable as always, Ash," he commented, before yelling. "Electrabuzz, use Brick Break!" charging forward, his arm glowing brightly with the energy, Electrabuzz slammed his fist into Absol's angelic wings. Despite being mega evolved, her defences weren't the greatest and it sent her spirally backwards under the brunt force of the super effective move. However, despite the bruise that had formed, she held firm and wanted for the next command.

"Use Dark Pulse!" Ash yelled, noting the damage done and hoping to finish the battle without bringing Pikachu in - though he could almost picture the look of annoyance he would receive if he didn't use the electric type.

"Brick Break again!"

The two attacks collided, leaving little room for things to do. However, the brunt strength of Electrabuzz's arm broke through the Dark Pulse and he ran over to Absol, striking her with the exact same brunt energy. That, combined with the prior damage, was enough to cause her to collapsed. One short glow later and she returned back to her regular form. Ash sighed, he had hoped that Absol would have lasted a little longer. But she had gotten some damage onto Electrabuzz, that must have meant things had to be easier. After all, from what he could remember: Electrabuzz's only non-electric moves were Protect and Brick Break. "Return, Absol." he called, smiling.

"Absol is unable to battle, Electrabuzz is the winner. Folks, we are done to our last Pokemon. Which will win, Paul's Electrabuzz which has already sustained damage or Ash's Pikachu which hasn't even fought yet in this battle?" came the question from the announcer, only bringing the tension higher for the anticipating audience or for the near panicked Misty. She was so worried about who would win, Pikachu or Electrabuzz.

"Alright. Pikachu, you ready?" Ash asked, looking down at his partner with a grin. This earned a confident 'Pika' as the Pokemon charged onto the battlefield. With a quick command, Ash yelled out. "Alright then. Pikachu, use Dig!" digging under ground was easy for the electric mouse, as he didn't expect to be pulled from under the ground easily.

"Brick Break!" calm and collective was Paul's voice as his Electrabuzz hit the ground was his fist, ripping it apart and sending Pikachu spirally into the air. It hurt as the little Pokemon cried out his name, but he soon recovered as Ash called out the next move. With a blazing Quick Attack, he slammed into Electrabuzz and sending the Pokemon flying back.

"Now Iron Tail!" even if electric type resisted steel moves, Ash didn't really mind as he knew Electrabuzz had been dealt damage already. However, this turned out to be the wrong choice as the direct contact activated Electrabuzz's static. Paralysis shook alright Pikachu's form, slowing his movements and limiting his actions. It was a worry to Ash, but he shook his head and made another quick call. "Quick Attack, counter the paralysis!"

"Brick Break," Paul commanded, trying to catch Pikachu in the act. However the move didn't make contact as Pikachu dived out of the way in time, still wrapped in white energy before smacking into Electrabuzz once more.

"Keep it up!" Ash yelled, indicating for more Quick Attacks. As he knew that Dig would be too slow and that Paul could use Brick Break again, so he needed to keep on the single move that counter his paralysis status. Constantly charging around, Pikachu dodged many of the Brick Breaks that Paul ordered for and just keep attacking and attacking. Eventually the brunt force of all the attacks was too much, causing Electrabuzz to collapsed to the ground and was evidently unconscious. It took a few minutes before Ash registered that he and Pikachu had won. "WE WON!" he yelled.

"Electrabuzz is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner. Thus Ash is the winner of this year's battle tournament," the announcer said, though she knew all of this was more than obvious. Up on the stands, Misty put a hand on her chest as she tried to slow her heart rate. It had been pounding ever since static had been activated and she had been quite worried for Ash's chances of success. She finally let herself relaxed, earning a giggle from the two girls around her as both of them had seen how worked up she had gotten.

"Pika-pikachu!" the squeal of the electric type came as he jumped into Ash's arms, nuzzling against his cheeks and making little 'chaas' of enjoyment. Both trainer and Pokemon were happy to have won, that much was obvious to everyone in the nearby area.

Despite sighing, Paul walked over and looked at Ash. "I congratulate you on your win, Ash. You deserve it, and to be honest: when I called you predictable, I truly hadn't been expecting Absol's mega evolution so that caught me a little off-guard."

"Paul!" came the squeal from behind them and he turned to see Dawn running up to him, landing her lips against his. Ash laughed at this, which did make whatever focused part of Paul's mind decide to kill her later. But for now, he decided to simply enjoy the kiss. Eventually Dawn pulled back and said. "That was an amazing battle, both of you. I so wasn't expecting the mega evolution or the Focus Sash!"

The rest of the group were quick to join them, Misty headed nervously over to Ash - he just smiled at her gently blushing face. "...Um A-ash...that was quite...nerve wrecking," she admitted, blushing nervously. He just chuckled, as she continued to stand there nervously. "...B-but good j-job on your win, Miss Delia...will be impressed. I...just know it..."

"Thanks, Mist. I'm glad that you were watching me," he smiled, as he handed Absol's poke ball as well as the key stone back to Drew. Turning back to her, he gave a smile that said 'good job' as well. "Also, I should be congratulating you. I heard from May that you made it to the third round, which is pretty amazing. Don't worry about losing to Gary, he is pretty strong. Though a complete douche bag. So don't be faze too much."

Nodding, Misty was about to hand Glaceon's poke ball back to May when she shook her head. With a smile, May elaborated on why she didn't agree. "Keep him for the night. My treat for getting through, plus you two need to celebrate. Getting to the third round is quite an thing to celebrate amongst so many students, the second grade has it the hardest due to the amount of trainers. Ya know, I heard that the grade nine students didn't even have as many students, so they just had a 128-student tournament since a lot of students didn't bring Pokemon despite the fact they should have."

* * *

Misty decided to head home on her own, wanting to talk to Togepi and Glaceon. "...You know, today was pretty amazing," she whispered, earning a nod from Glaceon and a smile from her winged baby. Smiling down at Glaceon, she continue. "I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did without you, so thanks for that..." her voice grew more confident whilst she was on her own.

"Glacey," came the shake of the head, surprising Misty a little. Whilst it was somewhat weird to be able to understand a Pokemon that wasn't hers, over the last few days she had gained that search of ability. "Glaceon, gla eon. Ceon," the Pokemon explained.

"...You think I would have gotten that far with any Pokemon?" she asked, quite shocked by Glaceon's judgement. This earned her a nod from the ice type, but she brought a smile onto her face. "Thanks...though, I don't really know. Usually ice types aren't my forte, ya know. Water is...so I was...quite surprised with how today...worked."

"Toge-ticku!" suddenly her little Pokemon pipped in, which earned her a little pet. However this wasn't why Togepi made a little cry. "Togepi, togeticku!" she screamed, alerting her mommy of something. Looking to where her baby was pointing with worry, her breathe hitched in realisation. Around the corner, stepping from the shadows was a obvious figure. "Toge TOGE!"

"...B-but...how?" she whimpered, trying to back away from her father. "...Your supposed...to..." she wasn't able to finish that sentence as he harshly grabbed her wrist, the one that had her scars on. Due to the fact one of the cuts had never truly healed due to lack of actual care, it was ripped open from the harsh pull. Energy drained out of her with the blood, fear and panic only rising. Then, everything went black with the only thing she felt was a bang on the back of her head followed by the cries of her Pokemon.

* * *

Alright dark ending to a really long chapter, but I hope you enjoyed. This took a while writing, I'm not even joking. And its my longest chapter to date...by quite a mile in fact.


	12. Images (Rewritten)

"What do you mean she never turned up last night?!" a loud and worried scream was heard, rippling into Ash's ear. Looking around frantically, he patted his injured ear before looking quite distressed. Misty hadn't returned home after the competition and now he was regretting letting her walk home on her own, what if something had happened to her? Right now, he was talking to May via phone call to see if she knew where she was - turns out it was negative and only proved to make said girl worried about their friend.

"Exactly what it sounds like, she never returned home. Neither of the Pokemon came back either...," he said worriedly, and he heard silence on the other side of the phone line for a few moments. It nearly caused him to call out to his childhood friend when he heard faint sobs on the other side, yeah he knew May would become worried. But he didn't think she'd start crying. "Um..."

"Ash, during that sleepover..." she started, near painfully. It seemed like she didn't even want to get it out. "Well, she told me and Dawn something harsh. Turns out she's been abused, did you know that?" once she heard a faint 'yeah' through the phone, she continued. "...I'm worried. W-what if her father got out of jail and found her last night!"

Despite hyperventilating himself, Ash shook his head and tried to think more positively. "We don't know that, just relax and maybe call Dawn or something," pausing for a moment, he considered what to do next and called out to his childhood friend. "Get anyone you can to see if they had find something out. Me and mom are already looking for clues around the house, maybe you could look for clues via the route she took. I pretty sure that she took the normal route, whilst I didn't as I was walking with Drew."

"You can count on me!" came the confident reply, as suddenly the line shut off. Ash knew that the girl would be going to call Drew or Dawn, one or the other. Hell, she may even call Paul - though it would be more likely she'd relay on Dawn doing that. Meanwhile, he had to find more clues out in the house. Stepping away from the phone after attaching it to its case. Deciding to go check out Misty's room again, he remembered one thing he didn't check as he had wished to respect his foster sister's privacy. However, now wasn't the time and he needed to figure out what had happened to her.

Turning over the pages of Misty's diary, he looked at each entry from the last few days. Some were happy and some were more on the downer side, but there was one that caught his attention more than the rest. It was from Saturday by the date and the first line instantly said she wasn't fully talking about the trip out. Sitting down on the bed, he began to read the entry as he hoped they may be some kind of clue within the text as to where the girl was in the present. One constant, near annoying due to how it kept occurring, thought popped into his head as he started reading. ' _Please be alright, Misty..._ '

 **Date: week 1 Saturday.**

 **...It's nearly the end of the week, the first week I spent living with the Ketchums. I won't lie, its been amazing and Ash is so kind. But...I'm worried, what if all these happy times come to an end. It is universal law that good has to be countered out by evil...and I could have sworn I saw him whilst we were out today. Togepi made no reaction, but...I just know it was him. I'm scared, w-what if he comes back to get me. I...don't want to go back there. *A faint hint of wetness was on the page, indicative that Misty had started crying in the middle of writing* P-please...Ash, don't let him hurt me...**

Despite the silent plead at the end, Misty hadn't said anything about seeing 'him' again. And it didn't take a genius to work out who the poor girl was talking about, her father. The one who had gotten her into this traumatic state, caused her nightmares and left her emotional, physically and even sexually scarred for life. As he read this, his fist clenched involuntarily. As he wished to murder the girl's father, nobody should have to suffer like she had. Tearing up, he whispered out. "...I swear, Mist. I'm going to find you," Making that promise to himself, but also to the girl that he knew couldn't hear him, he knew that he had to achieve it.

* * *

"Help..." a near silent plea could be heard, as Misty had found herself resting on a bed that was tarnished. It was only a mattress, but many parts of said mattress were missing and left the springs and frame visible. There were also many Joltiks that lived within the mattress, and sure that terrified her - but that wasn't why she was whimpering out. Tears rolled down her cheeks, she wanted Ash and she wished to be safe. Looking up weakly, she placed the wrist she could actually fell any sensation out of on top of her sweating forehead.

"...I...need to l-let him know..." remembering this house, unfortunately, quite well, she worked her way downstairs to the surprise of both Pokemon that she had been kidnapped with. Truthfully, she couldn't remember how they ended up with her - but she was more than glad, as she had someone she could talk to. Flying after her, Togepi landed in her arms as Glaceon walked at her feet. Glancing around nervously, she could see her father on the sofa with beer around him. If she was quick, she could get to her location.

Sneaking past, she worked into the room she was looking for and a faint sigh of relief left her throat as she spotted the computer. Reaching for it, she booted it up and was glad to find it was completely muted. Slowly, she turned to Togepi and handed her a camera that was nearby the computer. Standing straight, she lifted up her clothes to reveal bruises and cuts on her waist. Even she could feel the blood rolling down her legs, it didn't matter anymore if she wasn't a virgin - blood would always be there, due to how violent the actions were.

Taking the photo, Togepi gave a sad look at her mommy as she flapped her wings. Truly, she could remember how she and Glaceon had been caught: it was so simple as they had been brought with Misty based on the fact they attacked 'him' in an act to protect her. Thanking her baby, Misty took the camera and put the chip into the computer to upload the newly taken image (I have no idea how cameras work...so forgive me). Finding the emails, she put in Ash's email - which she had learned a few days prior when he told her to contact him if she ever needed anything - and quickly sent the image with a quick line underneath it. Quickly, she shut it down and sighed.

It was then that a hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her back, a chuckle could be heard. Turning around in fear, Misty could see her father's rough face with that evil glint in his eye. "What did you just do?!" he yelled in her face, hitting her cheek repeatedly as he tried to force her to talk. However, Misty stayed quiet as she didn't wish to say anything. She needed to get this guy back into prison, permanently. How he got out was obvious, he had many rich connections. One of them would have bailed him out of there. Eventually her father just sighed, pulling her off the ground by her injured wrist. A crack could be heard as blood rolled through the gaps between his fingers. "Whatever, now get me some more beer!"

Nodding her head violently, Misty was dropped to the ground and ran to get the beer from the fridge: she never wished to say for him to get it himself. A wheeze left her throat as she picked up the drink, placing it gently next to him after he had returned to his spot on the sofa. Surrounding them was a clutter of waste, the house looked unkempt and inhabitable. How anyone could live here was a mystery, but then again her father was stupid enough to do this. Slowly, she walked back up the stairs to reunite with her Pokemon - both of them had went up there when her father came into the computer room.

* * *

Suddenly Ash heard the phone rang, which caused him to instantly run downstairs and pick the thing up. Nearby, he could see his mom and she looked pale with worry. After a few silent and anxious minutes, the phone clicked to indicate the accepted call. "W-who there's?" he said in a near panic, silently wishing that it was Misty. But he knew that the girl didn't even own a phone so how could she call him.

"Its May, Ash...well, we found something quite disturbing," came the worried and mildly depressed voice, he had to remember that it had already been half-an-hour and that he had been silently crying for a last 10 minutes since he read the message. "We look through the route that she took, and eventually we found a couple of things there. Her bag had been left on the floor, containing both Togepi's and Glaceon's poke balls. And nearby to that was a patch of blood stained to the pavement, indicating something must have happened."

Now his anxious thoughts peaked, especially after what he had read. "Alright, bring the bag over here. I...found something as well, but its better for you to come see it," he explained, trying to control his putting the phone down, he let his thoughts run rampent for a few moments as he tried to collect himself together and figure out what all the evidence indicated. ' _Misty's...had to been bleeding...what happened to her, it's quite obvious...that she was kidnapped...and it is quite obvious who the culprit is. But...why did she bleed?_ '

Suddenly a beep was heard, causing him to look at his mom with a worried face. She nodded her head, indicating that she'd greet May and the others when they arrived. Heading upstairs, he went to the computer and looked at the message that had been sent. It was from an unknown person, but he had to check it out: it could be relating to Misty after all. Clicking the message, he froze and looked at the image sent. "Mist..." he whispered, worried about the state of her if she had been reduced to a bleeding mess of cuts and bruises in only the day since her kidnapping. Looking down, he saw the message and read it out loud. "...Miss Delia or Ash, whoever is reading this. Please, I can't write much but I want you to listen. I...need to get him back into jail...asap...so, please collect these images I send you and t-then I'll send the address...please come as soon as you can. I'm...scared..."

More panic rose into him, looking back at the image and seeing the injury done to her wrist. Blood rolled down it and it was clear that it may even be broken, how long could she hold out if this was what she had to suffer with in only one day. "Please...hold on, Mist. I'll save you!"

Heading downstairs, he saw May, Drew, Dawn and Paul waiting for him. Sighing, he revealed what he had just found out as well as the diary message. Looking at Paul and Drew, it was clear that never of them knew about this and was quite shocked to hear about what had happened to the poor girl in the past and now in the present. "It's obvious as to what's happen...and all we can do is simple, to wait...until she sends the other images..." his fist shook, he really didn't want to do that - but he didn't have much more to lead him, and Misty had requested him to do that herself. Earning a nod from everyone, they headed home and wished him luck in helping her.

* * *

Shaking, it had been another day since she had sent the last image and now she was in more pain. Most of the pain originated from her back, as she could feel the message he had craved into it. Having already sent the picture to Ash of it, she knew what his response would be. Fury, worry and maybe even sadness. For the thing written on her back with a craving knife was 'Slut'. Blood rolled down from there as she panted out a little. More wheezing and sneezing left her throat and nose, as the situation she was in left her quite sick.

Looking at Togepi, she gently petted the little Pokemon's head and whispered in a weak voice. "I-it won't be long now, I-I'm s-sure he'll be coming. S-so get into place for me," the little girl nodded sadly, holding the camera in her little hands. Flapping her wings, she landed on a nearby cupboard and stayed hidden. Looking up at her was Glaceon, but Misty nodded and gently petted the Pokemon. "G-go hide...I'm be alright..." growling in frustration, Glaceon climbed into the cupboard that Togepi was staying on top of.

How much longer would she have to stay in this hell, Misty wondered to herself as a sob shook out of her throat. Eventually she heard a bang, followed by a loud and round creaking. Looking up with blurred vision, she could make out the figure of her father. Sniffing a little, she could faintly smell the alcohol on him even through her weak sense of smell. His voice could be heard clearly, however, as he said in a non-sensible way as he climbed on top of the frightened girl. "Ah, my bitch. Have you been waiting long, my love?"

It didn't take a genius to work out that he had mistaken her for her mother again as she laid limp, she was too weak to attempt to fight back. Pinning her frail and weak body to the bed, Misty glanced up and saw Togepi waiting patiently for the signal. As whatever was left of her tomboyish tank top and shorts were ripped off, she gasped as she saw his own trousers weren't on anymore. A few more seconds, she thought to herself as she waited in fear. As he jolted forward, her scream left her throat - that was a signal for Togepi to take the disgusting image.

Eventually he pulled out of her, leaving her sobbing form alone. "That was brilliant, love," he said, licking her face before leaving her alone. Panting, she just stayed there for a few moments frozen in complete fear. Eventually she pulled her naked form up and put on whatever remained of the clothes, just to cover up her womanly places. Sobs wracked her form, as she hugged herself. How much more could she take, why was she even trying. How long would it take...before she was saved. A cough ripped out of her throat, mixing with the sobs.

Glancing at something silver on the broken night stand, she moved over to pick it up. What the item was, it was obvious as she held it to her chest. Looking down at the knife that she stolen, should she or shouldn't she? Breathing strengthened, as tears rolled down her eyes. Unable to stop herself, she placed the knife to her wrist and put the pressure on. With each sob, she went deeper and deeper. Until...

"TOGE-TICKU!" she heard a loud scream, as well as a loud sound as a white angelic figure grabbed the knife from her as she sat there in shock with blood rolling down her wrist from the wound she had made. Looking up after a while, she saw a Pokemon that she hadn't expected to see. There was a Togetic, flapping 'its' wings in front of her in mild annoyance and worry. At her feet was Glaceon, the same worry on his face. Togetic suddenly used Psychic, levitating Misty's injured wrist in front of the ice type's open mouth. A low-powered Ice Beam left the Eeveelution's mouth, gently freezing the injury so that the bleeding was stopped.

Dry tears remaining around her eyes, Misty was still in shock and barely was able to speak. "T-togepi?" she whispered weakly, looking at the evolved Pokemon. Truly, she had never expected her baby to evolve. Normally Togepi evolve via friendship, but she never thought she could give enough to the Pokemon even with all the hints towards the potential evolution. She never thought she could give that less key to open to 'chest'. But, now looking at Togetic, she was thankful as a image formed in her mind. Ash.

More tears rolled down her cheeks, she couldn't kill herself. "Ash...I need to see him..." she sobbed, shaking as the two Pokemon tried, but failed, to comfort her. Staying like that for a few minutes, she just couldn't think of anything but Ash. "...I...love him..." she finally admitted to herself. "...He deserves to know...so I h-have to...make it...t-through this...," looking up at Togetic and then at the camera. "...L-lets send the l-last image..., Togetic..." the word rolled off her tongue, not feeling natural in the slightest. Breathing heavily, she tried to wipe away her tears with little avail.

* * *

Sat at the desk, Ash had a sleeping Pikachu on his lap and was looking at the screen with tired eyes. How long had been sat there, waiting for the last two images. He couldn't remember, but he just wanted them to appear already so he could find out where Misty was. Saving her was his top priority, even with him being as tired as he was. Two beeps were heard, snapping him from his half-awake state. Feeling sick was an understatement when he saw the image of rape before him, but he forced himself to scroll down and gasped in horror at the sight.

There, Misty stood with her ribs on show. Actually, she was barely standing as she could be near seen wobbling on the spot. Looking over her body, many bleeding wounds could be seen as well as the blood that had stained her legs. But what caught his attention was a ice on her wrist, through the melting object he could make out something: 4 cuts. But he had counted before, she was supposed to only have 3 scars. Then the realisation hit him harshly, she had tried to kill herself again. Shaking, he had to get there as soon as possible. Reading the address she had sent, he ran downstairs instantly to inform his mom after printing the images off.

After the police turned up, the lead officer took the address and images. One look at her face and it was obvious that she was pissed off. Introducing herself as Jenny, she explained something that Ash was mildly annoyed by. "I was the one on this case beforehand, and to be honest: I was shocked by the mistreatment of the Waterflower girl. Even when we arrest him, the girl never said anything and just remained in a quiet shock. The only evidence we had was what her older sister had said and the fact we caught what looked like a rape when we went to investigate," sighing, she looked at the Ketchums before continuing. "Due to the lack of evidence, it was hard to keep him in the prison when one of his rich friends bailed him out."

"B-but you have the evidence now, right?!" Ash asked, frantically. He needed to get to Misty, shaking his fist in anger at what he had seen. He handed the printed off images to the policewoman, trying to hide his frustration.

"Yes, of course. We'll be heading out instantly," Jenny responded instantly after looking at the 4 images , not noticing Ash's shaking fist and just started to walk out. "Just wait and we'll inform you of our findings when we finish there."

However, Ash couldn't take it and grabbed the woman's hands. "Take me with you, I need to see her. Need to make sure she is alright!" whilst the cop was about to say 'no', she looked up at Delia and sighed. "Please!" came the second desperate yell from the boy as he continued to shake.

"Fine, just be sure to stay out of trouble," she finally relented, looking at the tears that were forming in the boy's eyes. Looking up at Delia, she said calmly. "I'll watch over him, and will return him to you when this is all settled," once she saw the older Ketchum nod, Jenny looked down at Ash once more before leading him out of the room. Ash was relieved and knew he was on the way to finally save the poor girl, he just hoped that he wasn't too late after seeing that image.

* * *

And here we go...hope this works.


	13. Finding (Rewritten)

Arriving at the address given was easy, it was all the way in Cerulean City however. Due to this, it took quite a while to get there, due to having to get around Mt Moon - something known as being quite hard to get around by car. All the way there, Ash sat nervously and watched the scenery go by - with the hope that they weren't too late being the only thing keeping him sane. The building was on the outskirts of the city, a run-down little shack that shouldn't be called a 'house'. However, it looked like it had once been one and had just been reduced in the last few months.

Glancing around, he tried to see through the windows to figure out where Misty would be instead. But, they were so dirty from the outside that it was impossible to figure out what the interior of the building looked like. This only succeeded in increasing Ash's anxieties, he had only seen the house in pictures and from that sight: it really wasn't pretty. So what state could Misty be 'living' in. Looking up, he noticed Officer Jenny prepare her foot and soon she booted the door down. In her hands was a warrant, which she attached to the nearest window before entering the house.

As they stepped in, the first thing that hit them was the horrid smell. A mixture of beer, blood and even semen was evident of what had occurred within the building's brick walls. And they were trudging through piles on piles of beer bottles, wrappers and a ton of bug type Pokemon that hid the moment the light hit them. One of which was a little Joltik, which didn't go and hide. Instead, it moved over to Ash and seemed interested by him for a moment. "Jol?"

Somehow scoping the little thing up without hurting it, he placed it on his shoulder and whispered so to not hurt its tiny ears. "Have you seen a skinny tangerine haired girl anywhere in this building, Joltik? She may have a issue with bug types."

"Joltik jol!" it seemed to nod, using its little legs to indicate a direction that was the opposite to where the police were investigating. Looking between them and the direction, Ash choose the direction as he had to save his beloved foster sister already. Reaching onto his shoulder, he was about to put Joltik down on the floor when he felt a small - non painful - Thunder Shock hit him. "Jol!"

"You want to stay with me?" he asked, surprised by the little one's actions. Once he received an energy filled nod, he gave a small smile. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out one of his many empty poke balls that he carried around with him at all time. "Tap it, you're a little too small for me to hit you with it," once Joltik was called into the poke ball, he thought about why he did that. It was simply really, Misty wouldn't want to see a bug type right away. Especially one that she mentioned was in her backstory.

Before he headed over to find Misty, he felt a comforting hand attached onto his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Officer Jenny smiling down at him. "I saw you talking to your Joltik, go find that girl of yours. Me and my men will look around the rest of the house for that disgusting man," with that said, she went back to searching with the others. Ash watched for a moment as the group descended further into the building, before turning around.

Nodding his head, mostly to himself. Ash headed into the dark corridor that Joltik had indicated. Towards the end of the corridor, he could just make out a staircase that was rotting and clearly falling apart as one of the steps were missing. Suddenly, he spotted something vague at the top of the stairs. It was white, floating in the air via the use of some barely visible wings. It...seemed almost familiar to Ash, as he stepped forwards the staircase. It was then that a loud, squeaky voice caught his attention as whatever the white creature was came flying down to him. "Ticku!"

Tears, mixed with the unmistakable sound of a Pokemon cry. That was the first thing he heard as the little Pokemon hugged him tightly, nuzzling against his body. Looking down, he was almost shocked to see a Togetic hugging onto him. "Togepi...no wait, Togetic. You evolved?!" he gasped, earning a quick nod along with a call of her name as she pulled away with a sad smile adorn on her face. Shaking his head, Ash focused and asked. "Can you lead me to Misty, please. I need to see that she's alright!"

As Ash stepped up the stairs, he took note of the little under-stairs cupboard that Misty had mentioned and was quite sadden by the fact that it was still there. Even he could work out that she had to have gone in it at least once over the last 2 days. Progressing up the stairs, he was cautious around the missing step and soon made it to the top of the stairs. There, waiting for them, was May's Glaceon, a disheartened and almost relieved look on his face. "Glaceon, glacy!" he called, running up to Ash as that relief seemed to overcome him. He must have been so thrilled to see the boy there, ready to help out his 'master'.

Petting Glaceon, Ash sighed with relief. "Lets go help Misty, then everything can go back to normal. You can return to May and Mist can get back to recovering," or at least he hoped that things could back to the way they were. Jerking upwards, he looked straight at Togetic. "Lets continue moving," it was a simple command, one that the little fairy/flying type was quick to obey. Eventually they came across a door that wouldn't open, no matter what Ash did. The door knob was locked, then he saw Togetic's eyes glowing.

Psychic, he was relieved when he remembered the strange move that the former baby Pokemon knew. As the door clicked open, the trio stepped in and Ash was instantly disturbed by the sight. Laying on the bed was Misty, barely awake whilst she coughed and wheezed. Since she didn't look up, she didn't even seem to register that Ash had stepped into the room and, in a short hoarse voice, whispered out. "...T-t-togetic..., G-glaceon...w-where'd you two run off too..." after this, a cough escaped her throat along with a lot of mucus.

Frowning, Ash's nose was quick to pick up on the horrendous smell that filled the room and made him fell absolutely sick to the stomach. It was dreadful, 10 times more potent then the downstairs and made the fact of where all the rapes occurred obvious. Having enough as a few tears leaked from his eyes, he called out with little personal command. "...Misty..."

As soon as that voice hit her ears, Misty's beautiful, but now dull, virdian eyes widened as she jerked upwards with the evident sign of pain when she winced. Tears filled her eyes, as she looked straight into Ash's chocolate ones. "...A-ash..." came her sob-filled voice, as she forced herself to stand. There was even more pain in her eyes, but she ignored it as she made her way over to the boy with her arms desperately spread out. Weakly, as she finally collapsed onto his chest, she spoke out her thoughts. "...I...was s-so scared...t-that you'd n-never c-come..."

"Shh, relax. You're going to be alright," he whispered, trying to convince not only her but also himself, as he held her closely. Looking down to access her weak body and the injures, he could see her left leg which was badly mangled and quite obvious broken. Even more cuts and bruises tarnished her pale skin, along with that horrible word that was spelt out on her back. Then he took note of her wrist, the 3 scars and the single unhealed cut obvious. Trying to hold back his own tears at the thought that he could have lost her, as he gently rubbed his fingers through her matted and unkempt hair. "The police are here...they'll lock him back up and he'll never hurt you again. Promise."

Looking up, tears still rolling down her already previously stained cheeks, Misty managed to force a smile and a nod. "E-everything's g-going to be...alright...," came her low whisper as her body constantly shook from how tattered her clothes were. Blood seeped through any gaps and left very little of her body covered. "...Ash, I'm s-so cold..."

Pulling his own jacket off, he gently wrapped it around her to cover her up and give her a little decency as the clothes didn't cover 2 particular areas. Lucky for him, his adrenaline hadn't caused him to blush yet and so he didn't mind much. Taking another look at her, he could see her faintly smiling before sneezing and wheezing out another sentence. "...T-thanks..." before she collapsed in his arms, unable to take the pain and sickness any longer. He had found her, that's all that mattered to her.

Unfortunately, she didn't know that her action would send Ash into a short panic. For a moment, he thought that she might have died on him or something. Until he saw that faint movement of her chest and the low wheezing coming from her nose as she tried to breathe. With Togetic's Psychic, he pulled her onto his back and carried her downstairs with the two worried Pokemon not too far behind. Downstairs, he caught instant sight of Jenny and the others. As well as a sight that he near growled at.

There was Misty's father, handcuffed and looking rather pissed off. Taking note of the two teenagers and the Pokemon, he sneered and yelled out. "So that brat was the one to inform you, she's not worth your time," he just chuckled, much to Ash's annoyance. Yet, the clear anger on the boy's face didn't stop the man as he continued to brutally taunt the unconscious girl. "Should have died at birth and taken her pitiful mother with her."

Ash couldn't describe in words how glad he was that Misty wasn't able to hear him, as he moved forward and proceeded in punching the man. "NO CHILD DESERVES THAT AND SHE'S NOT WORTHLESS!" he screamed, though somehow didn't wake up the girl on his back at the same time. It was Jenny to prevented him for punching that man again, but he had to resist it. He needed to get his foster sister to hospital more than this guy required punching.

Taking one look at the unconscious Misty, Jenny frowned and handed Ash a address with a map. "Here's the address for the Cerulean Hospital, the nearest one to us. Get her to there, we'll handle this piece of human trash," then she patted his shoulder and said. "Keep her safe, kid. I'll inform your mom as soon as this man is locked up forever."

"Thanks, officer," Ash gasped out before running out of the building, Togetic and Glaceon not far behind. Every now and again, he could feel the girl slipping and would require Togetic to use Psychic. Even if it worn the poor fairy/flying type out, none of them wanted to risk Misty getting even more hurt. Whilst he was still honestly confused by the Pokemon's sudden evolution, he knew there was more important things to think about and so didn't bother mentioning it. Looking over his shoulder, he could see Misty's pained expression. Tears finally fell from his eyes, blurring his vision and leaving him more frantic to get her to the hospital ASAP.

Finally he reached the hospital, charging in a complete panic. The horror that washed onto the receptionist's face when she noticed the injured girl was incredible, as Ash's vision blurred nearly out through his tears as he silently begged and prayed for Misty to be alright. It wasn't long before a Chansey with a stretcher appeared, a doctor not far behind her. "Rest her on the stretcher," he commanded Ash, without giving any time to waste. Once Ash carefully laid Misty down, his heart broke when he heard her sleepy cry from pain in her back.

As the doctor began to leave, he tried to follow. Whilst the doctor's eyes were sadden, he had to follow rules. "Lad, I can't let you come with me. Please wait in the waiting room, she'll be alright," he said, much to Ash's clear disappointment. Then the stretcher, doctor and Chansey left down the corridor. Leaving Ash, Glaceon and Togetic in complete silence and obvious worry.

Heading to the waiting room, Ash sat down and let Togetic stay on his lap. "...Why did this have to happen," he whispered, mostly to himself. "I should have walked home with her on Friday...t-then she wouldn't be in this mess," a low sob crept from his throat as his tear ducts began working once more, adding more tears on top of his already stained cheeks. Obviously, Togetic and Glaceon tried to deny this by essentially saying that 'Misty wanted to go alone' and all that. "...B-but she's in there right now, in pain...and might not even make it..."

Unable to blame himself more, due to the appearance of Delia in the room. Asleep in her arms was Pikachu, mild tears of worry in his own eyes. Sitting down, she was going to hand the electric type to the boy when she noticed Togetic on the boy's lap. Deciding not to ask the obvious, she gently said in a worried tone. "Has the doctor come to see you yet, how is she?"

"...When we got there, it was horrible," Ash said, recalling everything and explaining what he knew to his mom until the present moment. Trying to hold back his tears as he whispered out the last bit. "And...then you showed up, so the doctor hasn't even been yet," looking at Pikachu for a moment, he then turned to glance up at his mom. "W-where's Raichu?"

"Reluctantly, I left him back home to handle himself. But I figured you'd want to see Pikachu, so even though he had cried himself to sleep out of worry - I brought him along with me," the explanation was simple, as Pikachu's brown eyes slowly opened and looked up at Ash. With a cry of 'pikapi', he gently crawled onto Ash's shoulder and nuzzled against his cheek.

"Nice to see you too, buddy," before he looked away, Ash said. Deciding to do something to pass the time, he called out Joltik onto his free shoulder so that it could meet the other Pokemon. This alarmed Togetic for a second, before he gently calmed her down. "Don't worry, I won't let her near you mommy for now," he gently said, petting the little electric/bug type on his shoulder carefully.

Shortly after, three older woman entered the room - all with rather abstractly colored hair. It had to be hair dye, Ash decided. But then he clicked as to who these girls were, Misty's older sisters. One of them, Ash figured was Daisy, was the first to talk. "Ohh, Delia. We came as soon as we heard about this. How is she?" she asked as she sat next to Ash, the other two remained standing and looked pretty sadden.

"So far, we don't know. The doctor hasn't come to address us," Delia explained to all three of them. This brought about a melancholic silence, as Ash looked down at Togetic and Glaceon for a little while.

Wanting to spark something to talk about as she didn't like the silence much, Daisy looked at Togetic and asked. "Is that Misty's Togepi? When did she evolve?" And then looking down at Glaceon, she asked in a sad tone. "...And...I thought she lost her Eevee?"

Sighing, Ash chose to explain. Hugging Togetic closer to him as he spoke quietly. "...To be honest, I don't know how Togepi evolved into Togetic. But...yes, she is the same Pokemon. As for Glaceon, he's not Misty's Pokemon. He belongs to one of our friends."

Eventually the doctor, that Ash had seen before, came in to talk to them. Noticing their worry, he went straight to the point. "Well, she's still in quite critical danger right now. We managed to stop any bleeding, particularly from the injury on her back, and got her quite stable. However, she's still quite unconscious and not out of the woods yet. One of her femurs is broken, along with her scarred wrist. There was also some internal bleeding, but we sorted that out. As for the fever, we gave her some antibiotics and that should be the least of her concerns."

Weakly, Ash asked in a slightly impatient voice. Though he still made sure to be polite. "May we see her please?" he was so desperate to see the girl in a more able environment, even if she wasn't awake.

"Of course. However, I can only allow 2 of you in at a time. Since she's quite delicate at the moment and will likely have quite a painful migraine once she awakens, so I don't wish to further that pain if she does wake up," explained the man, before leading them to the room that Misty was in. Ash took note of the number, deciding that if he needed to come back that he should know it. 532, quite a simple 3-digit number. "Which of you wish to go in first?"

Deciding that as the girl's foster mother, Delia wanted to go in first and it wasn't long for Daisy pipped in as well. Both of them headed into the room and after a few anxious minutes, they emerged again with tears in their eyes. That was a signal for Lily and Violet, Misty's other sisters, to go into the room. Ash had made it very clear that he wanted to go in alone, with just the Pokemon. Once they came back out, Lily was heavily crying as her sister tried to comfort her. Sighing, Ash headed into the room and was greeted by the sight that his mom and the three sisters had seen.

"Toge-ticku!" sobbed the fairy/flying type as she flew over to her mommy, Ash following swiftly behind as he was still shocked. Attached to multiple machines, all trying to keep a track on her vitals. Out of her tomboyish clothes, she was now dressed in a plain white hospital gown and was sound asleep. The only sign that she was even alive was the gentle movement of her chest and the heart machine's constant beeping. Sitting down at a stool, he just watched as Togetic sobbed quietly. Reaching out, he held her cold hand and just stayed like that for a few moments.

Glancing at Glaceon, the ice type processing the same worried and near teary face as his fairy/flying friend. Then he looked back at Misty and whispered. "Please, be alright. The nightmare is over, s-so you have to be fine," he said, forcing a teary smile onto his face. Luckily, she looked quite peaceful and no longer on pain. It was just that she wasn't awake. "...Come on, Mist. Wake up...everyone's waiting for you too. Mom, your sisters...and me..." he added himself the very end, before reaching down and gently kissing her forehead. This seemed to caused something as the girl's moved a little, smiling in her sleep.

"Tik?" he heard a little voice and turned to the Joltik on his shoulder, she looked quite worried about the girl and she didn't even know her. "Joltik, jolt!" for a moment, it seemed like she wanted to use Thunder Shock to awaken the girl that way. So Ash gently stopped her, much to the Pokemon's surprise. "Jolt?"

"...Lets not hurt her, she needs to awaken up at her own space. Plus, it wouldn't put you on her good side if you did that..." he gently whispered, getting up and preparing to leave the room. Glancing back once, he could see Misty's sleeping form and sighed. Looking at the doctor, he made his questions quick and simple. One at a time. "...Doctor, is she in a coma?"

Seeing the sad look in the boy's eyes, the doctor sighed and nodded his head. "From what we can gather, yes. But she's in no pain, so we'd rather not force her awake just yet. Give her a few days, she should wake up on her own."

"..And what about the...um...sexual abuse she suffered?" he felt awkward for a moment, asking such a question. He could even see Delia and Misty's sisters out of the corner of his eye, all looking quite awkward from the question. Yet they all shared in his anxiety on wishing to know his question. "...I-is anything going to come on that?.."

"Thankfully no. She was able to avoid pregnancy, which is surprising to say considering how many scars we discovered around that area of her body. We could estimate the amount of times she suffered from that kind of abuse, and so its quite surprising to say that she hasn't gotten pregnant," but then he paused, a small frown on his face. "We'll keep checking on her and you can come to see her during visiting hours, until she wakes up."

Relieved was a understatement on how Ash felt, he was so glad Misty wasn't going to suffer having a rape-baby. She already had to suffer from her PTSD, nightmares and the memories of what happened. Having a constant reminder would just break her, he could see it coming. It seemed like Togetic and Glaceon shared in his relieve state, which was surprising considering how he knew Togetic was a recent evolution - surely some of the baby traits from her previous form couldn't have passed that fast.

Reluctantly leaving for the night, Ash took one last glanced at Misty's bed and at her still form. A faint whisper left her throat. "Be alright, Mist..." before he closed his eyes and left, one last whisper on his tongue. "...Wake up so I can tell you..."

* * *

And that was quite an...emotional chapter I think. Oh and about Joltik...yeah, I normally hate spider-like Pokemon. But, I honestly can't say I hate this little cute fuzzball. But that means she'll never evolve...uh. I don't know just yet. Oh well, hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you in the next rewritten one.


	14. Awakening (Rewritten)

"Glaceon-glacy..." he heard a small cry from behind him as he stepped into Misty's room again, it was a third day since he had found her and she still hadn't woken up from her comatose state. Turning down to the ice type, he could see the sad look and the mild tears. Even if he had been returned to his actual trainer, he was more then agitated to return to Misty's side to be there when she woke up. Initially May have been sadden by this, but she then remembered that Glaceon was only worried about the girl that he had witnessed being abused and raped.

Looking down at the girl, Ash's guilt complex only grew. Why didn't he walk home with her that night, why did he leave her alone. If he had gone with her, maybe he could have defended her with Pikachu. Sighing, he glanced down at Misty's sleeping form. All of her vitals were fine according to the doctors, so that meant it shouldn't be long before she awoke from her deep sleep. Right? "Come on, Misty...you've been asleep long enough, s-surely its time for you to wake up," he chuckled sadly at the thought that she was just sleeping, he knew that wasn't the case.

Reaching over, he took her frail hand into his own and just held it there for a few minutes. Said hand was warm and very soft, untouched by the scars that plagued the other one. As he sat there, he remembered how Togetic didn't want to come with him - recalling the distressed look in the fairy/flying type's eyes when she remembered the state her mommy was in. Looking up at his foster sister's peaceful face, he looked at her eyelids. How he long to see those beautiful viridian eyes once more, to get lost in the forest that seem to shine from the orbs.

Moving his eyes away from her face, tears wormed into his chocolate eyes and threatened to fall. It took a slight movement of Misty's hands to force those tears out, as he believed she was waking up. Yet, as he looked up at her face once more, silence like the last event had never happened. Sighing, he was about to get up and leave when a small hoarse cough and moan filled his ears. Looking back, he could see Misty's eyes flutter a few times as she strained to wake herself up. Eventually those gorgeous eyes opened themselves, even by only a slither, and glanced at him as a weak voice like her throat. "Ash..."

Pulling the girl into a hug that was intended to comfort her, but comforted himself more. "Thank goodness, you're awake. I was so worried about you," he whispered, holding her close to his body and refusing to let go. The fear that she'd disappear if he left go was haunting him.

As she struggled to stay awake, she just closed her eyes and listened to him talk for a little while. Eventually her voice started to come back to her, as she opened her eyes again with the intent of keeping them open. "...A-am...I...s-safe..." that thought was haunting her, was that 'monster' still around. Was he in jail or was he still roaming the streets, looking for her. An involuntary shiver rolled up at spine, nearly unnoticed by Ash.

"You're safe, Misty. Out of that hellhole and in the hospital to recover, your father is in jail where he belongs. And he should remain there, thanks to the evidence that you sent," he explained, wanting her to stop worrying and relax. Gently he stroke her hair, something he had noticed that she liked a lot as she always relaxed into his arms and would often close her eyes. "Look of me," once he got her tired eyes looking up at him. "Just relax,...you only just woke up after 3 days and you're already panicked..."

Slowly, Misty nodded her head and just relaxed on Ash's shoulder in a sleepy manner. It felt weird, she had just heard that she had been asleep for 3 days and yet she was still tired. Briefly, she looked at the Pokemon by her foster brother and realised something was missing. "...A-ash..." she weakly whispered, earning his attention from his focus on gently stroking her hair. "...W-where's T-togetic?..."

Feeling sorry for her, knowing that her baby wasn't there when she first woke up. However, he had to tell her. Pausing his stroking, he gently explained why the fairy/flying type hadn't come to the hospital. "...She didn't want to see you...unconscious...so I didn't force her to come. As her daddy,...I think she deserves to make up her own mind...and she's evolved now...so.."

Smiling gently, Misty understood and relaxed once more. But as her eyes began to become strained from staying open, she couldn't hold off needing to sleep. Even though she wished to stay in Ash's embrace forever. "...I-is...it a-alright if I go to sleep?..."

Chuckling a little, Ash nodded and rested the frail girl back down in the bed. "Night," he whispered, kissing her forehead as she smiled a little. After this, he was about to go fetch a drink that he wanted, but something held him back. Turning, he could see Misty's red face as she held his sleeve in mild embarrassment. Smiling gently, he asked kindly. "What is it, Mist?..."

Still flushed, she gently held her hands together as she hoped quietly. "...W-would y-you s-stay with me?..." she involuntarily stuttered as she whispered this out, plain embarrassment rising in her cheeks. Adding something more, so she didn't seem clingy. "...J-just until I f-fall asleep?..."

Forgetting all about his wanted drink once he saw her adorable expression, Ash nodded his head and sat back down. To be honest, he couldn't blame her for wanting him by her side - she must have been so lonely in that run-down home. "..Of course," he gently said, taking hold of her injured hand again with a half-focused glance at her still bandaged one. "...I'll stay, I'm not going to go anywhere."

This earned him a small smile from the exhausted girl, as she made herself comfortable in the hospital bed - something that must have been kinda hard to do with all the sores and injuries she had acquired, particular the massive craving on her back. Not once did she lay down on said wound, but it was obvious that she knew it was there as she kept glancing nervously over her shoulder. "N-night, Ash..." she whispered out, before letting her eyes flutter shut. With her exhausted state, it didn't take long before she finally fell asleep.

Reciting an old phrase from his childhood, he whispered. "Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite," it was a simple rhyme, one that was commonly used for small children. To be honest, he knew that Misty would freak if she heard him say 'bed bugs' and this only preceded in bringing a little chuckle to his throat as he stood up to leave the room. Only looking back in once, as Glaceon followed silently behind. Glancing down at the ice type, Ash could see the look of relief on his face that mirrored his own relieved state. "...See you in the morning, Mist..." he whispered to nobody, before leaving to inform the doctor of Misty's little awakening.

* * *

Thankfully, the next day came by quickly and Ash arrived at the hospital with both his own Pokemon, Glaceon and Togetic. Sure he was a little uncertain about letting his foster sister, and hidden crush as he had finally came to the conclusion, about the bug/electric type that he had caught, but he figured that she deserved to know before she found out in another way. Especially with what he planned on doing today, so gently he recoiled Joltik to her poke ball with a quick. "I'll call you out when I think she's calm enough."

Heading upstairs, Pikachu on one shoulder and Togetic on the other, and walking along the corridor, he thought about his plans and simply hoped that the girl was more rested today and able to actually focus on more than one thing at a time. As he stepped into her room, he was relieved to see that she was already sat up and playing on a game-boy. One sight of the boy and she saved whatever game she was playing before turning it off, then she opened her arms for Togetic to fly into as she gently hugged the baby. Looking up at the boy, she whispered. "...S-sorry about falling a-asleep yesterday..."

"Its alright," he said as he sat down on the stool. Pikachu hopped onto the bed and greeted Misty with a rather loud 'Pikachupi', smiling at the girl's recovery. "Your body is still trying to recover from the events, so its quite understandable that you'd want to sleep more," though he got a nod, he never did get a voiced reply, so he decided to just continue talking. "So how are you feeling anyway. I saw you playing on that game-boy, what were you playing?"

"...I feel better then yesterday," she finally said, almost a moment of silence. Glancing at the red game-boy that she had put down, she wasn't sure how to explain it. "One of the nurses gave me it...to mess around with for a bit...since I was...a...little bored...and visiting hours...weren't going to be on for a few hours at the time..." she finally said, picking up the game-boy and turning it on. With a quick flash, the music picked up and a black and white game appeared on the screen after a long cut-screen of a Pikachu using Surf and Fly. A character, eerily similar to Ash in appearance, appeared first before a group of Pokemon - the first one to appear was a Pikachu like the cut-screen - flashed next to him with a logo: Pokemon Yellow Version.

"Oh, I know this game. Its for the children, who aren't old enough to go on a Pokemon journey, or those that don't have the funding to go on one," Ash commented with a smile. This earned him a little smiled nod, it was clear that Misty enjoyed the game when the character save file appeared. Since it was 5 hours, and she had implied to have received the game only a few hours prior. Her pokedex already had 50 Pokemon on and she clearly seemed attached to starter Pokemon, a young Pikachu that she had named...Ashley? This did bring Ash's attention, as he blinked with surprise. "Ashley?"

"...Um...well...uh..." she just stammered, blushing heavily as she tried to explain her reasoning for naming her Pikachu after him. Eventually she sighed, her cheeks still flustered and red. "...Truthfully,...I did it...because I...uh..." gritting her teeth, she decided she had to explain the whole deal. "...You know, I assume you seen it...my wrist, I mean..."

Confused and a little annoyed that she didn't answer his question, Ash just nodded his head. "Of course...it left me kinda worried..." thinking about it, he needed to know this more than why she named a in-game character after him. "...Why did you try and kill yourself again?..."

A strangled sob left Misty's throat, as if it pained her to even recalled what had happened. Unravelling the bandage from her wrist, she revealed the mangled mark that was trying to heal. "...I was so scared, Ash. S-scared that you'd n-never c-come...that I'd e-end up stuck there forever...I w-wanted to end it then and t-there...s-so that I d-didn't have to s-suffer if y-you didn't come..." glancing down at Togetic, who was hugging her desperately. "She...saved me...e-evolving and t-taking the k-knife off my at the last s-second...G-Glaceon then used...Ice Beam to numb...the bl-bleeding..."

"...Why didn't you just push them away," he regretfully said, knowing that had the two Pokemon not done that...he would have lost her and that thought pained him to even think up. "...If you wanted to end it...you could have quite easily..."

And this was where Misty's tears hit the hardest, as she nodded in her head in agreement. "...T-that is true, but I guess...subconsciously...I wanted them to save me...so t-that I could say this to you..." she whispered out, before turning her head to look at him. A half-confident look on her face, mingling with the tears that stained her cheeks. "...What stopped me truly, was...you. I thought about you...and h-how..." pausing, she hated herself for stopping and mentally slapped herself before her confidence peaked. "...How...I love you," and that was it, she said it. Praising herself, she let her confidence drop and looked at Ash in complete silence.

Whilst it took him a few minutes to click on what she just said, he finally heard it and looked down. He had intended on this encounter of confessing going to the other way around, so he needed to come up with a plan. Eventually, his mind just went ' _Screw it_ ' and he moved forward. Successfully catching Misty's lips with his own, the pair stayed like that for quite a well. Misty's mind was going through so many emotions, she was terrified one moment and delighted the next. Was...this what actual love felt like, she tried to work out as she just stayed limp for a few moments. Eventually her brain caught onto the gentle movements that Ash was making and she copied, forcing a little moan out in pleasure. Separating for air, Ash looked at the girl and brought both hands into his own as he said. "If that doesn't confirm anything, then I'll say it: I love you too, Misty Waterflower."

Putting a finger to her lips, Misty stayed quiet for a little while as her brain tried to keep up with the processing. Looking directly at Ash, she eventually smiled and nodded her head as tears of joy filled her eyes. "...T-that felt a-amazing," she admitted, mostly to herself as she more forward to lean on Ash's chest. But a niggling feeling arose in her, more scary then the kiss had been initially. "...Ash, h-how will y-your mom react or our friends...w-we're c-considered foster siblings, t-this c-can't work..."

Sighing, Ash knew this was the case. He...did have a plan, but he needed Misty's true thoughts on it before hand. "Well, you could always get adopted," there was a surprised look on Misty's face when he said this, so he elaborated on his statement. "If you get a new mom, dad or both, then it doesn't matter how our relationship is seen as we'd no longer be considered to be foster related."

First, there was a nervous look in the girl's eyes, before it was replaced with excitement and curiosity. Finally, she seemed to settle on a mixture of nervousness and excitement. "...B-but, Ash...w-who would adopt someone l-like me...?" she whispered, looking down. Eventually she felt his arms wrap around her as she whimpered out whilst trying to force her tears back. "...I'm a nervous wreck...I have nightmares...a-and I..." she sighed, unable to hold back the dam any longer. "...Nobody w-would want to a-adopt...s-someone, who's...s-so...dependant..."

It was a fair point to make, one that aggravated Ash to no end. They'd have to find someone, who could handle Misty's PTSD before they could even get together and reveal to the others about their feelings. And the worst of it was, was that Misty's PTSD had likely gotten even worse after her recent kidnapping. Looking back at her, she was glancing down at her game-boy. Her party was on show, with the cursor resting on 'Ashley' the Pikachu. "Don't worry," he eventually said. "We'll find someone, even if it takes us years. We'll be able to reveal our feelings to the others...and besides, we can still be in love in secret."

Nodding whilst teary-eyed, Misty picked up her game-boy and whispered. "...M-mind if we c-change the subject?..." once she earned a happy nod, she decided to show the boy the team that she had crafted on the game in the last hour. Besides 'Ashley'; there was a Charmeleon called 'Miki', a Ivysaur called 'Saur', a Squirtle that she had named 'Bubblegum' - 'Bubblegum' was right under 'Ashley' in the party order, showing the girl's love of water types. And right under that, a Meowth named 'Meowzie' and lastly a Pidgeotto named 'Otty'. "...I f-figured it w-would b-be best t-to have a well-rounded...team.."

Chuckling, Ash nodded and truthfully he hadn't been surprised by the lack of bug types on her team. However, a thought hit him. In the game, she was at the third gym in the game in Vermilion City. How had she even managed to get through Viridian Forest, a place full of bug types. However, he just giggled at his own thoughts and continued talking to her about the game. Even directing her on the moves to use to be able to beat Lt Surge's gym. Surprising, she had taught 'Ashley' the move Dig so it was quite easy for the electric mouse to beat its evolved counterpart. Ash's Pikachu was indeed impressed by this, watching over Misty's shoulder with Togetic not far away.

Looking at his watch, Ash realised that visiting hours were nearly over and he still hadn't revealed Joltik to Misty. "...Mist, this may give you a bit of a heart attack at first. But I'd rather you know now," he explained, before gently calling the electric bug out of her poke ball. The girl's entomophobia made it obvious how she would react and she looked terrified as she moved to the other side of the bed. "She's not going to harm you, I can promise you on that score. She's only got Thunder Shock presently and that doesn't do enough damage to hurt a human more than a shock as the name implies."

"...A-are y-you sure?" whispered Misty, looking a little panicked with her eyes locked onto Joltik's ones. If she was going to be honest, she did think that the little tick or spider-like Pokemon did look pretty cute. If she wasn't as deadly afraid of spiders as she was, she probably would love it.

"I promise and you won't see her often, as I'm not training her for battle. She's too young for that," he explained, gently letting the little Pokemon hop up and down on his hand as she squeaked her name out. "I just needed you to actually meet her, so that she didn't scare you later on," and with that, he recalled the Pokemon to his ball which earned no complaints. This helped Misty fell relieved as she moved forward, nervously. Comforting her, Ash gently kissed her on the lips once again with a smile. "There, don't you worry."

Nodding her head, Misty then yawned and indicated that she was tired again. Noticing her yawning, she blushed and made a quick apology. "...S-sorry...I'm t-tired again..." mentally, she was beating herself up for not being able to stay awake for her new...boyfriend? But, she couldn't keep herself up forever at the end of the day and she was still recovering in the hospital for a reason.

Smiling, Ash nodded and gently pushed the girl down. "You go to sleep, I need to head out soon anyway since visiting hours are pretty much over. Besides you still need to recover, as the more you recover - then you'll get out of the hospital even faster," gently kissing her forehead, he added kindly as he gently tucked her under the blanket. "Night, Mist. Love you."

"...Love you too..." came the cute reply, as Misty yawned once and settled down to sleep. This time, she didn't beg for Ash to stay with her and just let him leave as she knew he needed to go since visiting hours were over. "...Ash," she whispered, just before he left. "...T-thank you for everything..."

Ash grinned, nodding his head before saying. "Your welcome," and he stood there for a second, watching Misty's eyes close and for her soft snoring to begin. "...Have a nice sleep," and with that, he and the Pokemon left the room.

* * *

Alright, this was fun. I did the Pokemon Yellow reference 'cause why not and since it made a nice little transition into the confession scene. Next rewritten chapter may have to wait, since I need to find my plans again. This chapter, I think, was the last one I could rewrite before having to find those damn plans.


	15. Return (New Chapter, partially)

Alright, sorry about the wait...*Sigh*. Alright, the original chapter is being split into two. I don't know, but I feel like having Misty be adopted in the same chapter as the announcement is a bit rushed. Thus, I wanted to give a short chapter for her and May to actually interact beforehand. Oh and...a certain water type needs development.

* * *

"To think, the few days have flown by," Ash commented as he and Misty left the hospital, it was her day of discharge and she couldn't be more excited to just leave the place to return back to...she paused for a moment, was the Ketchum household really her home. Did she even want it to be one, since she now wished to be adopted. Noticing that his girlfriend wasn't moving anymore, Ash tilted his head and asked curiously. "Mist, you alright? Why'd you stop?" this also ended with a little 'pika' from the Pokemon sat on his shoulder.

Blinking, realising that her feet were indeed not moving, Misty sighed and caught her to her boyfriend before replying. "...Its nothing, just a random thought that crept up on me," smiling gently, as she held Togetic close to her. At her feet was Glaceon, which kinda surprised her when she thought about it. As she thought he would have gone back to May, but she did find it sweet that he was watching over her. "...I'm fine now, thanks for worrying..."

Copying her smile, Ash nodded and gently leaned down to kiss her as he knew that he wouldn't get a chance after this for a while. "We need to get moving, everyone is waiting for us back at our place," he explained with a grin on his face. Everyone had planned Misty a 'got out of the hospital' party, just to be completely kind to the emotionally traumatised girl. They even made sure that it was quiet with only really Dawn, May and their boyfriends coming. Oh and their Pokemon, but who could forget them. Smiling at the thought of Pokemon, though he didn't let Misty know why.

Arriving back at the house, Misty had been made aware of the party - nobody wanted to give her a panic attack, so they made sure she was well aware - and could only smile when Dawn and May came over. Both girls were holding a Pokemon each, Piplup for Dawn and Skitty for May. Noticing his trainer, Glaceon went to curl around her legs and yipped gently. Leaning down, May gently pet her ice type as she spoke. "Well, congrats on getting out of the hospital. Must have been so boring there, so time for that boredom to go away with a party!"

Nodding gently, Misty felt a little uncomfortable yet she didn't let it faze her. Today she could manage it, they were being kind after all. Then it was Dawn, who pipped in her two cents. "It was all May's idea, she's the one who planned the party and everything. Oh and by the way, I so wanna rematch and I wanna see how powerful Togetic is!"

Shocked at first, Misty soon overcame it and sighed. "...F-fine, o-only in the back garden though. I...uh, don't wanna destroy the house," Dawn chuckled at this and nodded, before calling for anyone to see if they wished to watch. Ash and May were the obvious ones and interesting Paul also was kinda curious, though he never admitted why. It was then at Misty remembered that she barely knew what Togetic's moves were and that left her a little panicked, all she really knew was Metronome and Psychic.

Noticing her panic, Ash threw something towards Misty. It was a pokedex type thing, as she looked at it with curiosity. "It's a juniors pokedex, it's not the actual thing. However, it tells you the moves of your per-trainer Pokemon," came the explanation from the boy, earning a short and still intrigued nod from the tangerine haired water lover. Lifting it up, she gently scanned Togetic's data and stayed quiet as it listed the data for everyone to hear. Even May and Dawn looked over, curious to hear what moves Misty's Togetic could know.

 **Togetic, the Happiness Pokemon. Togetic is said to be a Pokemon that brings good fortune. When the Pokemon spots someone who is pure of heart, it is said to appear and share its happiness with that person. This Togetic is female with the ability Serene Grace and has the moves Tri Attack, Psychic, Thunder Wave and Metronome.**

Looking up at Togetic, Misty was quite surprised by Thunder Wave and Tri Attack for they were both moves that caused status conditions. That and Tri Attack's 20% chance to either burn, paralysis or freeze was doubled by the ability. Then she glanced over to Dawn and Piplup, both of which looked quite confident and she could remember battling the little penguin Pokemon back during the competition before her kidnapping. If she remembered correctly, it had Whirlpool, Hydro Pump, Drill Peck and she remembered it also having Ice Beam though it wasn't used. Dawn then spoke. "So, are we ready for the battle?"

"Ticku!" the little Happiness Pokemon replied, seemingly ready for battle as she flew over to the field and prepared herself. Pulling herself together, Misty followed after her little Pokemon and stood opposite Dawn. Standing near them was May, who had decided to referee the battle even though it was just a 1v1.

Once the battle start was called, Misty moved quickly to try and block out anything. "Togetic, use Metronome!" she begged and prayed for a good move, since Metronome could be a little annoying to work with. However she gasped when the move Energy Ball was used. A giant green ball of light emerged in front of the fairy/flying type's body after she finished waving her little digits. Then it was sent hurdling towards the shocked Piplup.

"Piplup, counter with Hydro Pump!" came the sudden call, as Dawn made up her mind quick. Shooting a huge gush of water from his mouth, Piplup deflected the Energy Ball back. However Togetic was quick to dodge the move, even if it wouldn't have done much due to her dual typing. "Now Ice Beam!"

"Use Psychic!" as the beam of ice charged for Togetic, she just gave a cheerful, if creepy, smile as her eyes suddenly glowed and stopped the move in its tracks. "Good," Misty complimented as the attack shattered, looking around she made the next call. "Use Tri Attack!" three colored balls emerged and spun around the little fairy type; one red, one yellow and one blue. Shooting one at a time, Togetic waited and hoped that her ability would activate one of the three status moves. Much to Dawn's horror, one was activated. Freeze as Piplup became frozen in a large icy block.

However, then a smirk appeared on the blue haired girl's face as she recalled what had happened in the competition. Even in the last few days, she had trained Piplup quite a bit and had managed to replace Whirlpool with a move that benefited her greatly in this situtation. "Piplup, Scald!" despite being in the icy cage, Piplup's heated water began to slow thaw him out. Water trickled down his ice prisons, much to Misty's shock and horror.

Making a rapid call, she yelled up to her precious baby. "Use Metronome, quick!" she yelled, again hoping for a good move. This time, it wasn't Energy Ball. But instead, it was Moonblast. Togetic squealed in delight as she summoned the moon as a backdrop for her attack, using the moonlight to build up a giant pink ball in front of her as she harmonically cried out. Just as Piplup escaped, the moon landed square on him as he had no time to dodge or protect himself. Though he wasn't knocked out, leading to Misty making another quick call. "Use Tri Attack again!"

"Piplup, Hydro Pump!" Dawn yelled loudly, hoping to defect the trio of colored balls. However, this wasn't the case. One of the trio made it through the move as the other two weakened the water, it was the yellow ball that signalled for a paralysis. Luckily for Piplup, it didn't paralyse. But it left him quite weak and susceptible for another attack. "Use Drill Peck!"

"Use Psychic!" came the attack from the other side, however it wasn't for complete offence this time. Togetic wrapped the ball of purple light around herself as a wall of protection, before charging for Piplup's Drill Peck. They made contact, earning a loud and large explosion. When the smoke cleared, Piplup was laying on the ground with no sign of being awake whilst Togetic was gently flapping her wings in a weak manner. As her confident side dropped, Misty walked over to her friend and gently said. "That was a great battle...I was surprised to hear that Piplup had...Scald."

Nodding her head, Dawn gently shook Misty's hand in respect. "Yeah, I taught him that after the ice beam trick from the competition. I'd need a way out of a situation like that, since most of Piplup's moves require the usage of his beak. And of course, contests have battles that require much more than just battling. They need to show off the elegance of their Pokemon, so freezing the mouth of the opponent could be considered one of these little contest tricks," she explained, recalling Piplup to his poke ball.

Ash ran over and hugged Misty ran behind, surprising her and fuelling May's interest in the two's relationship. "That was amazing, especially since it was Togetic's first battle," he complimented, still hugging the embarrassed girl. When he saw the bright blush on her face, he longed to kiss her. But they had to keep this secret until she was adopted, as it was considered wrong by many people. Letting go of her, he could hear her audible sigh of relief and continued. "Mom made some cookies if anyone wants any!"

This seemed to do the trick as May and Dawn ran into the house, crying out the loud word. Paul just huffed and followed the overexcited girls in. This gave Ash the quick chance to plant a smooch on his secret girlfriend's lips, which earned a moan of surprise and pleasure from the girl. "Lets head inside, or they'll be wondering why we held back," he chuckled, noticing her slightly reddened cheeks when he removed his lips from hers. Misty didn't follow straight away, having her finger to her lips as a little smile formed on it as she whispered out her love for Ash before heading inside.

The rest of the party went well, everyone was happy for Misty's discharge from the hospital - even Paul showed some interest since he had been pretty shocked to find that a father would do such a thing. May especially was happy, she didn't leave Misty's side for the rest of the time and seemed to keep side-glancing at the door at every moment she felt Misty wasn't looking. As the sun began to set over the horizon, everyone decided it was time to head home. May stayed behind, kissing Drew goodnight as he left. With a short sigh, she smiled and turned. "Alright, its time!"

"T-time for what?..." Misty murmured, a little unsure of what her friend meant by that. That uncertainty always left her a little panicked, since she knew that May could be rather unpredictable according to Ash. All she got was a cheerful chuckle from the brunette as said girl left the room and came back with a airtight brown box in hand, during the little while she was gone there was the sound of a door opening and a low-voiced chat that the shy girl couldn't pick up on. Glancing at Ash and Delia, both of them seemed to know what was going on and stayed quite quiet during this.

"Alright, here ya go!" May said as she placed the box in front of the tangerine haired girl, a giant smile on her face. "Its like a present for getting out of the hospital, after all nobody should have to go through what you did," she quickly hugged Misty, before continuing. "Open it, you'll like it for sure."

"It..." whispered Misty, as Togetic gave the same confused look from her shoulder. Gently she knelt down and lifted the lid off the box, the interior was quite interesting to say the least. For the base of the box had a waterproof covering as water filled the box up till the tips of the waterproofing layer. This meant that the cardboard shell didn't rip ahead of time, but it kept the...creature within the box hydrated. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the Pokemon that was curled in the box. "A...Vap-Vaporeon..." she gasped out, nearly choking on her low sobs.

Yawning, the aquatic Pokemon's purple eyes opened and she slowly glanced up at the crying girl and Togetic. Their eyes locked on one another, both in belief at the sight they could see. "...Vapor-vapor..." came the low growl of the water type, as she pulled herself up and glanced directly at Misty before leaping out of the water - which sent it splashing towards the water trainer, though she didn't mind due to her muddled emotions - and straight at the teary-eyed maiden. Shocked, Togetic flew off her mommy's shoulder and let Vaporeon and Misty nuzzle in a teary mess.

"Eevee..." whispered Misty, as she hugged her long-lost friend. "...I..t-thought you were dead..." her violent sobs wracked her throat, as she glanced at the aquatic Pokemon's head fins. They were ripped, likely from where her ears had been pulled in the last moment they had together.

"When Ash told me about her, I believed she would have been dead as well considering how that creature treated you," May explained in a kind as she smiled, walking over and taking Togetic into her arms as she spoke. "But I decided to have a look and found that around the time you mentioned, an abused and mistreated female Eevee had been brought into my regional home town of Petalburg's Pokemon Center. So I had my dad go collect her and bring her over at my stated time, so that I could reunite you two. And at the time, we remembered about you love of water types and used a spare Water Stone."

Unsure of what to say, Misty just looked between her brunette friend and the water type in her arms. She couldn't believe it, 3 years since she had seen the Pokemon in her arms. Finally finding her words, she stumbled out a quick. "...Thank you, May...I really appreciate this..." picking her up, she gently let Vaporeon down and watched as the water type nuzzled between her legs. It was something that she remembered fondly, as when the aquatic Pokemon was simply an Eevee she would frequently nuzzle against her legs. Even as the Bubble Jet Pokemon Vaporeon, she seemed to have kept this playful behaviour. In a way Misty was glad about this since she wanted her mind to go back to the days where she was completely happy, now that she was safe.

"She seems really fond of you, almost like you were never separated," May commented, looking at the pair with a smile. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a blue and white colored poke ball, a Dive Ball, and handed it to Misty. "I bet you recognise it, it's the poke ball that your mother used to capture Vaporeon all those years back. It managed to remain in tact and when the Pokemon Center found her, she was protecting it and refused anyone wanting to touch it until she was truly comfortable. When we took in her for a last few nights, it was a same case and she didn't like the other Pokemon much. Glaceon however, she was completely fine with. It was almost like she was smell you on him, since your scent, whilst faded, still remained on the ball."

Smiling, Misty gently reached down and petted her Pokemon as she noticed that the water type was gazing at Togetic with curious eyes. Togetic shared in this expression, which caused Misty to remember that neither of her Pokemon had ever met before due to Togetic hatching after Vaporeon... Shaking her head, she decided to not remember that and just introduce her baby to her long-time friend. "Vaporeon, this is Togetic," she said, after taking the fairy/flying type from May's hands. "She hatched not long after we were seperated,...she helped me through my father's treatment..." she gently explained, holding her tears back.

Nodding, Vaporeon gently nuzzled her trainer's arm in comfort as she waited for Misty to smile and wipe those tears away. Once this happened, she gave a playful smile to Togetic and placed a paw on the little Pokemon's body with a loud. "Vapy!" This brought a chuckle to Misty's face, as she let Togetic fly after the fleeing water type. She was glad that her Pokemon were going to get along, especially since they were playing tag straight away. It seemed almost perfect, almost...

Taking a deep breathe, she glanced at Ash and then at her foster mother. Making her mind up, she gently stepped towards Delia with a shy expression as she whispered out. "Um...miss Delia..." cursing her own nerves, she tried to pick up a more confident voice as her two Pokemon came over to lend their support. What she said next surprised everyone in the room, though Ash managed to a quick smile soon afterwards. In a shy whisper, she got out a small question. "...Do you t-think its p-possible for...me to um...get adopted?"

* * *

And that's that, nice little cliffhanger


	16. Families (New chapter, partially)

Recovering from the mild shock of her foster daughter asking that question, Delia smiled and placed a hand on Misty's free shoulder. "Of course you can, if that is what you wish," this brought a clear smile to the girl's face, which was reciprocated by the older woman. "I'll get searching right away, I'm sure they'll be someone out there that will adopt you."

There was a pause, before Misty made sure that her other request was out there. "C-can...I still live near Ash...?" she felt nervous and awkward, but she glanced over at her secret boyfriend and saw his smile as she asked this. It helped relax her a little. The smile on her foster mother's face grew, as she nodded her head. Though it seemed like she was already aware of this wish, as she jolted down some notes into a notepad.

Silence reigned over the room, as May seemed to be in deep thought as she held Skitty close. At her feet, Glaceon was giving her a curious look for a brief moment before running over to play with Vaporeon - the playful water type was surprised by the normally cold-hearted Pokemon's willingness to play, but smile regardless. Soon into their playing however, Misty noticed something had changed and Vaporeon was brushing her fish-like tail around the ice type's body in a seductive manner. Then she ran outside, followed very shortly by the aroused Glaceon.

"...That...doesn't look good..." muttered the girl, as she glanced at the equally intrigued Ash. They both knew that Pokemon loved to breed and with the two Pokemon being of the same evolution line, it was quite possible that they'd produce a Pokemon egg if they weren't separated. And that left a panicked thought in Misty's mind, if there was a Eevee produced...well who would look after it? Glancing over at May, she couldn't even work out if the brunette Hoenn girl even knew about this due to her thoughtful look.

Suddenly, the Hoenn girl stepped forward and smiled. "Miss Delia, my mom and dad have been trying to have a baby recently. But their attempts were futile, as Max managed to make our mom infertile on his way out," she sighed when she said there, but continued shortly afterwards. "So they were looking at adoption, so maybe they'd be willing to adopt Misty," she then glanced at the open door that lead outside. Chuckling lightly, she added. "And it'll help if those two manage to conceive an egg."

"Well, if you can confirm with your parents if that is what they want to do. That'll be great," Delia commented, smiling at the young brunette. She glanced over at Misty, who's eyes were wide with shock. She clearly hadn't been expecting that from her friend and potential future adopted sister. Picking something up, Delia handed whatever it was to May. "Its a photo of Misty from the night out, show them that and see what they say on the matter."

"I'll do it straight away when I get home tonight," May smiled, before turning to Misty and giving the shocked girl a hug. "If we end up as sisters, then that's great. But if my parents don't want to adopt you, then I wish you look in finding a home and that we'll stay good friends."

A few tears formed in Misty's eyes, there was a chance of getting a home with people she already knew. "I...don't know what to say..." she whispered, teary eyed as she let her friend hug her. "...T-thank you," she finally decided on, moving her arms so she was actually responding to the hug. She thought back to the day they had the slumber party; her mild overcoming of her fear of Beautifly, telling May and Dawn about her past and the other events. Whilst some were sad and some were happy, she really did love that night and...wished that she could go live with May as part of the family permanently.

Suddenly, the hug was ended as May smiled at her. "Its getting quite late, my parents will be worried about me if I don't return soon. But don't worry, I'll ask them about this adoption thing and don't worry about it too much," with that said, she headed towards the open back door and yelled out. "Glaceon, if you're done having sex with your lover. We're going!"

A hue of a blush arose on Misty's face when she heard May's mild crude language, but she soon heard the Pokemon's cry and watched as the two Eeveelutions came back inside. Both of them were smiling brightly as if indication of what they had just done. Vaporeon came straight over to Misty and ran between her legs, but her movements were slower than before and she looked heavy around the waist. "Uh oh..." came the low breathe from the tangerine haired girl, earning a nod from May and Ash in agreement.

"Looks like they boned and conceived a child," May groaned, looking down at her ice type. "What are we going to do about you?" said Pokemon blushed and looked away from his trainer. Sighing, she looked at her two friends and said. "Misty, that egg will be coming at some point either tonight or tomorrow. But it will be a while before it hatches, so don't worry too much. If this works, we'll be living under one roof and that Eevee will be fine," smiling, she watched her friend give a low nod before adding as she left the house. "Well, see ya!"

Delia waited until the sound of the door closing was heard and turned to the two teenagers, before saying in a typical motherly fashion. "Its time for bed, you two. Like May said, it's late and you have school in the morning."

Hearing the word 'school', Misty went quiet completely. It was her first day back and to be honest, she couldn't wait either. She loved going to school, since it allowed her to learn all about the species that lived around them and such. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she headed for the staircase and silently watched as Ash put Pikachu down so that the little Mouse Pokemon could head outside to join his evolution. Trotting next to her was Vaporeon, who seemed interested in finding out about her trainer's lifestyle now that she was completely safe.

It wasn't long before Misty noticed that Ash had followed her into her room, she decided to address the idea with a whispered response. "Um...Ash, why'd you follow me? Don't you also...have to go to bed now?"

Smiling, Ash gently gave his girlfriend a featherlight kiss before responding in her question. "I wanted to kiss you goodnight, in hopes that you wouldn't suffer a nightmare tonight. You need a good night sleep tonight, so that you can get back to school with complete energy. Now get changed and I'll tuck you in," he made sure to turn away from the blushing girl and keep his eye shut at her stuttered demand.

Her angelic voice called to him a few minutes later and he turned to see her wearing a night blue nightgown with a water-flower pattern. It was simple, but looked stunning on her. "You look amazing," he whispered, earning a blushed smile. Seconds later, she laid down with Togetic still laying in her arms. Vaporeon pulled herself onto the bed, and curled up at the base. Leaning down, the boy gently kissed her forehead and whispered to her. "Try not to suffer another nightmare, I don't want to see you crying again."

Smiling up at her, she gently blushed and nodded her head. "...Good night, Ash..." she whispered, before adding gently afterwards as her eyes closed. "...I love you..." and she fell asleep, but not before hearing her boyfriend reply to her little line. This brought a sleepy smile to her face, as she began to snore lightly to indicate that she had drifted off into dreamland.

"Sleep well," he whispered as he left the room, leaving the door open by just a margin so that he could hear if she did happen to awaken from a nightmare. Before heading back to his own room to go to join her in the dream world.

* * *

Waking up the next day; Misty certainly hadn't fully expected to see not one, but three eggs snuggled next to her Vaporeon. All were the same brown shade, with a pale cream jagged line charging around it. Picking one up, she could feel how warm it was and tried to remember what her mother had always said about how eggs hatched. A short pair of sentences rang through in her head ' _When the egg is warm, it's in the first stage. There's three stages; one the warm stage, the next is the shaking stage and finally the stage when sounds emit from it._ '

"...First stage..." she whispered, before looking at the proud Pokemon that was protecting the other two eggs. "...I guess you and Glaceon w-went at it...quite a bit last night..." she murmured, placing the egg back down with its two companions. "It...could take a few days before these hit the second stage, which then only takes a day...and then the third stage can take anywhere from an hour to a day..." she spoke as she thought back to all her learning with her mom, as well as how Togetic hatched all those years back.

"Vapor-vaporeon," came the gentle, and slightly playful, cry of her aquatic Pokemon. The Pokemon certainly was proud of herself as she gently licked the eggs, her face showing her inability to wait for them to hatch. It could take anywhere from 4 to 7 days, something that Misty was thankful for since it gave May chance to ask her parents about this adoption thing. Glancing at the eggs, Misty couldn't believe that, in less than a week, a trio of Eevee were going to join them. What would she do with them, what did Vaporeon want or...anything. She just couldn't think about what her future had in store.

Getting off the bed, she gently opened her clothes box and pulled out her ripped Togepi-like dress. Tears formed in her eyes, she had really loved the piece of clothing and it had just been destroyed in her kidnapping. She found the ribbons that she had used to put her hair into pigtails and rummaged in the box, finding the same dress as Delia had brought another pair to use as a spare. Making a mental note to thank her older woman, Misty put on the spare Togepi dress and tied up her hair into messy pigtails. Togetic seemed happy as she flew around her mama, yelling out. "Toto, toto! Togeticku!"

Looking back at Vaporeon and the eggs, she smiled and waved goodbye to the soon-to-be mother. This earned a short cry of the aquatic Pokemon's name in response, as Misty headed downstairs with Togetic mere inches behind her. Heading into the kitchen, it didn't take long to eat breakfast and Ash joined very shortly into this. However, what was strange was that Delia ushered them out of the door almost instantaneously. Even telling Misty to take Togetic with her, which made Misty feel lucky that she had a Pokemon biology class.

For the entire walk, Misty was silent as she tried to figure out the reason for Delia ushering them to school instantly. This never happened, so it couldn't even be chalked up to her wanting them to get to school as soon as possible. About halfway to school, they met up with May and Misty's confusion peaked when the brunette didn't mention anything about what they had talked about the day before. What was going on...just thinking about this scared the poor girl, was it possible that she wasn't going to be adopted. Did...Mrs Caroline and Mr Norman...not want to adopt her. However, Ash didn't once point out how odd anything of this was and remained silent during the walk.

Whilst she was sat at school, Misty remained panicked and could hardly focus on her work. Sweat trickled down her head, as she kept nervously glancing at the tiny Love Ball that she had attached to a bracelet so that Togetic wasn't causing a ruckus. This behaviour didn't go unnoticed by the teachers as many asked her if she was feeling okay, which she replied with that she was okay and managed to hide her anxieties. ' _...What is going on..._ ' her thoughts plagued her, all the way till the end of the day. Togetic seemed to share in her confusion, as revealed by her confused and worried expression when she was finally released from the Love Ball at the end of the day.

On the way home, Ash didn't walk with her. So she just silently walked down the street with only Togetic next to her, who wasn't much for making a conversation with so she didn't even bother. When she arrived at the gate to her home, she was surprised to see that neither Pikachu or Raichu were around. Normally they'd be outside playing in the garden at this point in time, but she decided to shrug it off and believed that maybe they were inside. Yes, that had to be it...

Opening the front door, she was mildly surprised that Vaporeon hadn't come to greet her. But she chalked that up to the aquatic Pokemon looking after her eggs, but that didn't explain the eerie silence. Or the fact there was no light emitting from the living room. That's weird, she thought to herself and stepped into the room. Mere seconds after doing so, she was momentarily blinded by the sudden lighting of the room. When her vision came back, she was shocked to see that all her school friends were there and in the center of the group was May with her parents right behind her and Max in front of her. Above them was a sign that read 'congratulations' using iced words. It was almost like an ice type, or a water type, with Ice Beam had wrote it.

Then she noticed Ash and Delia, who were standing next to the light switch with a smile. Raichu and Pikachu were there too and surprising so was Vaporeon with the three eggs. Sensing the girl's confusion, May smiled and said. "Okay, I'm sorry about ignoring any attempts to mention what we talked about yesterday. But I had to do it, we wanted to keep the idea that my parents wanted to adopt you a complete secret. As for Ash, he knew and we made sure that he didn't spill the beans. We just wanted this to be a complete surprise," then she paused as she looked up at her parents, who gave her the nod of approval. "So, Misty. Do you want to join the Maple family?"

Caroline stepped forward, a smile on her face, as she looked at the shocked girl before her. "We were surprised by May's request, but we remembered how you looked when you came over for the sleepover. And the picture Delia send was so adorable. Plus, she also told us about what you went through and we just couldn't say 'no' after that," without putting any unneeded pressure, she added. "So, like May said, do you want to join us?"

"I..." came the whispered response from the nervous girl, looking down at the floor for a second as she thought. Collecting her, she glanced over at her boyfriend and saw his kind expression and made up her mind then and there. Though truthfully, she had made it up the night before. "...If you'll have me...then yes," she said, tears whelming up in her viridian eyes.

Opening her arms, Caroline waited for Misty to sink into the loving embrace. And it wasn't long before May and Norman were joining in. Max just stood off to the side with a smile, his Treecko resting on his shoulder and blue-colored Ralts sat at his feet. He seemed happy to have another sister, it seemed like it for sure. Though, it still had surprised him when he had heard about the request. Especially since he had only met Misty briefly during the sleepover and had been indeed shocked by the girl's withdraw nature. That and he was also shocked when he had discovered that she was actually the oldest of his sister's group, with her 15th birthday coming up in only 4 months. Comparing that to May's birthday, which was in 5 months, made things quite interesting.

With an excitable expression, May was quick to re-link the hug after her family separated. "You're going to love it in the family!" she squealed, loud enough for most of the room to cover their ears. Whilst Misty was indeed happy, she was still quite surprised by her new sister's extreme reactions. But she had something else on her mind as she glanced over to Ash, and decided that she could finally kiss him in public.

"Y-yea..." she whispered out, blushing at her own thought process. But she mentally slapped herself and moved over to Ash, she could do this. Gently she moved onto her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his lips. This surprised everyone in the room, with the exception of May and Dawn as they were kinda already aware of the fact due to the events of the sleepover. Speaking of the brunette girl, she was squealing loudly as she spotted this.

Going all fangirl-like, she hugged Misty from behind and continued to squeal loudly. "When did this happen?!" she continued to bounced up and down, joined by an equally excited Dawn. From behind them, it was possible to see Drew and Paul with the exact same look on their face as they muttered up 'troublesome girls'. Whilst her squealing had surprised Misty at first, she was now just glaring at the brunette. Though said Hoenn girl didn't even notice as she continued to fangirl. "I'm so happy for you two, you look absolutely adorable together!"

Sensing his girlfriend's frustrations, Ash came to the forefront and explained what had happened in a simple manner. "When she woke up at the hospital, the first time she was a little too tired so I let her sleep. However, the second time I found her playing one of those Pokemon games. And she had a Pikachu that she had named after me, so in her explanation - well she kinda confessed that she loved me," this seemed to bring even more shock, as the other people in the room had only just processed the information that Ash and Misty were together. They all looked at Misty, surprised that she was the one to confess first. Ash, however, was unfazed by the confusion and continued. "And I responded with 'I love you two'. Simple as that, really."

May just grinned, earning another sign of frustration from the tangerine haired girl. Was this what it was going to be like being May's sister, she hoped that wasn't going to be the case. But all evidence pointed to her hopes being inaccurate, bringing another mild annoyance to her brain. But she relaxed and decided that she could get used to it, she had all the time in the world now. Noticing the frustrated aura coming off Misty from before she had relaxed, May decided to change the subject. "So, Ash. What your plans now?"

"Well, I've still got 2 years before I can go on my Pokemon journey. So I've decided to continue training Pikachu and Joltik," he let the little tick-like Pokemon out of her ball, much to the slight fear of Misty - she decided she had to get used to it, so didn't say anything on the matter. May, however, had a lot to say on the subject when looking at her face.

"I had no idea you had another Pokemon besides Pikachu and Charizard!" she gasped in amazement, looking at the tiny and, in her eyes, adorable Pokemon. "When did you catch this little cutie?!"

"Well..." Ash sighed a little, looking down at Joltik. The little electric/bug dual type looked up, her eyes full of confusion as she couldn't fully understand what they were talking about or why the brunette girl was squealing. "On my way to find Misty during her kidnapping, I found Joltik in the rundown house. She wasn't doing much and was kinda just bored amongst the rubbish, and wanted out of that horrid place," he gently held the tiny tick in his hand, and looked over at Misty with a smile. "And she's prefect for helping Mist get over her entomophobia."

Looking at Ash for a moment, Max decided to join the conversation. "It's not normal for you, Ash, to know such a long word," he laughed, joined soon by the laugh of his Pokemon in agreement. "Normally you're too hard strong and uninterested in learning to note that such words."

Ash grumbled, though he knew it was true. "Yeah, maybe that's correct. But Misty revealed her phobia a little while back and well, I decided to look it up to figure out if I could help her any. And found out that entomophobia was the word for the fear of bug-type Pokemon," he looked at his girlfriend, who was giving him a smile of thank you. Though he could tell that most of her gaze was still on Joltik, but it didn't seem completely out of fear. Though, he was well aware that it'd take a while before she was completely comfortable.

"Kids, I'm sorry to butt in," Caroline's voice caught their attention and Misty turned to her new mother. "But its time that the Maples head home, we need to get Misty used to her new home and get those eggs that her dear Vaporeon had laid to the incubator," Misty was surprised to find out that the Maple family had an incubator, they were known for helping speed up the process of egg hatching. By halving the time taken so if they were to hatch in a week, it'd only be 3 and a half days instead.

Then she clicked, she'd have to be separated for Ash in order to go to her new home. It left her a little sad and nervous, but she had to do it. She would have to get used to this and her mind clicked to the obvious, it wasn't like Ash would never see her again. They went to the same school and we're in a relationship, it wasn't a huge goodbye. "S-so this is goodbye until tomorrow," she managed to whisper out, as Vaporeon came over to her. The eggs had been picked up by Norman and placed in a neat little bag to keep them safe.

"Of course, I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said, gently kissing her on the lips. "Try not to have a nightmare tonight and wake up the Maple household, I don't think they'd appreciate that on your first day living with them," this brought a little chuckle from Misty's lips, though she knew her nightmares weren't really something to laugh at. He then turned to May and commented. "Be sure to help her if she does get a nightmare, she's not used to go back to sleep without me or my mom there."

"Don't you worry your head off, Ash. She's in good hands, especially since she'll be sharing my room until we get hers sorted," she gave a thumbs up as she spoke and smiled at him. Linking her arm with Misty's, she continued. "Come on then, sis. Time for us to head home," and with that, Misty gave a small wave as she was pulled towards the door. The last thing she caught eye of was Drew in the back, making 'call me' signs to her new sister. Something she and May gave a chuckle at. She thought about everything that had happened as she walked with May, how much her life had changed and everything. Things couldn't get much better now, right?

* * *

And that's that of the former single chapter. Alright. We have something like 4 more chapters until this ends, I aim for 20 chapters with the 20th being the original epilogue. I'm kinda lucky the epilogue doesn't need much, so really its only 3 chapters that I desperately have to write.


	17. A loving date (New chapter in rewrite)

And here's the chapter (Besides the competition one) that I've been wishing the write. This is hopefully gonna be very sweet and really unlike the tone of the rest of the story, but it's nice for where we're at.

* * *

Misty felt frantic, panicky as she ran around her new room in a tizzy. What was she gonna do!? Reaching into her surprising large wardrobe, she couldn't even work out what to wear. Sat on her bed were Togetic and Vaporeon, both sighing at their trainer's frantic movements. Turning to them, her pupil's shrinking in her panicked state. "Togetic, Vaporeon...what should I do, Ash asked me on a date...but I don't eve-"

She was cut off by the opening of her door, revealing May's bored expression. It seemed like she had gotten used to this frantic mess that Misty was in, as she calmly stated out the simple sentence of. "Oh come on, sis. Your gonna be late to your date if you don't hurry up...why are in this frantic anyway?"

And then it snapped, all her panic thoughts just washed over her and she started listing them without paying any attention to her speech. "...B-but, what if I don't wear something that Ash likes the look of...what if he doesn't like how I look...what if?! What if..." then she felt a finger on her lips, shushing her from anymore frantic thoughts. After calming herself down, she looked at May with worried eyes. "...T-this is my first date and...I don't even know what to do on one..."

"Just relax, take a deep breathe and then explain what your so scared about?" May said, logically as she sat her adoptive sister down on the bed and waited for Misty to fully relax, though she still looked scared. "Okay, good. Now explain."

"...My only experience with men, before Ash entered my life, was...my...father..." she whispered, looking down with a few sprinkles of tears in her eyes. "...But then Ash...showed me what love was...and I couldn't feel any more grateful. B-but, I'm...scared that he'll leave me...since I'm not perfect. I-I'm bruised and battered, not the picture...of grace...that he deserves," and that when the waterworks started and she began to just sob openly. "...I don't deserve him, he's perfect...and I'm, I'm..."

May sighed, truthfully she wasn't sure what to say in this situation. Since she knew that Misty's past experience had heavily destroyed a lot of her body, personality and her mind, leaving them as only a fragment of what she had been as a child. And that fragment only appeared when she was battling. "I'd just recommend going with the flow, its your first date and you don't want it to be awkward. So just follow your instincts and go with them, I think Ash already knows a few things about dates due to me and Drew. Not to mention Dawn and Paul had a rough start to their relationship, and he saw all of that. You'll be fine, I guarantee."

Looking at her sister, Misty felt a little reassured. But the worry was still there, prevalent in the back of her mind and raging to be let free. Relaxing herself as much as she could, she finally picked out something to wear. She knew Ash would love it, since it was her remaining Togepi dress. She held it close, glad that she still had it. Seeing her sister's smile, May nodded and asked. "Want me to style your hair, I could get it into ringlets to make you look even prettier," this earned a blushed nod from the tangerine haired girl, but she felt relieved that May was helping her. She had no idea how she'd manage without her.

* * *

Waiting at their planned meeting spot was Ash, checking the time on his wristwatch every couple of minutes. Tapping the ground with his toes, he couldn't describe how he felt. He had been the one to ask Misty out, knowing that his shy girlfriend wouldn't be able to build up the confidence easily for the first time. He wanted to give her the chance to build up some confidence for little dates before letting her ask him out. Looking down at his watch for like the fifth time that day, he wondered where his beloved girlfriend was. "She's late..." he reluctantly mumbled out, not wanting to insult his girlfriend's speed.

Eventually, he heard a gently pitter-patter of feet and turned to see Misty coming up to him in her beautiful Togepi dress. Her tangerine hair was styled up into pig-tailed ringlets. He had to hold his breathe and mouth to prevent his mouth dropping open at her beauty. Eventually calming himself, he gave her a simple, if nervous, comment. "Y-you look beautiful, Mist."

A little blush appeared on the girl's cheeks, as she nodded her head in satisfaction. "M-may styled my hair, it-it doesn't look weird...? Right?..." she was shuffling on the spot, her thoughts going at 100mph with no sign of slowing down.

Ash just chuckled and gave her a reassuring thumbs up, before taking her hand into his own. Whilst he too was nervous, he held it in better then he knew Misty would and he wanted to come across as the one who could be reliable. He didn't want to come off as unsure and nervous about how these day was supposed to go. He had asked her out, he had to be the one to be able to sort things out and make the date perfect. "Come on, lets get to the fair already. We won't have enough time to hang around if we dawdle."

Nodding her head, Misty let herself follow after Ash towards their destination. It was a massive Pokemon theme-park that had been set up a few days back, they had decided it would be the destination as it was very much Pokemon friendly and it just seemed like a nice spot to go on a date. Looking behind her, Misty could see Pikachu, Togetic and Vaporeon chatting as they walked (or flew in Togetic's case) behind them. This brought a smile to her face, she was glad that her's and Ash's Pokemon were getting along. Togetic even got along with little Joltik, which was surprising since the fairy type had nearly been conditioned into sharing Misty's fear of bugs. Joltik, on the other hand, wasn't on the trip since Ash didn't want to arouse Misty's anxieties as it wouldn't be a great way to spend a date.

Shaking her head, she decided to focus simply on Ash and enjoy her time out of the house. Entering the park, Ash was the one who paid as they agreed a few days ago. Truthfully, it had been a mild argument that Ash had won since he wanted her not to worry herself into a tizzy with it being their first date. "So, what do you wanna go on first?" he asked, looking at all the different attractions. He wanted her to decide, even though he had a preference towards the more extreme rides like the coasters.

"Um...c-can we start with s-something peaceful?" came the shy response, something that Ash had already saw coming. He expected the nervous girl to not wish to go on the larger rides and had already prepared himself to the answer. "L-like...can we go on the boats?"

Nearby to them was a huge lake, with swan boats lined up at the edge. Very much a peaceful ride that was supposed to have a romantic atmosphere, perfect for a young couple, such as themselves, to ride during a date. Even though his brain wanted to switch off at the mere thought of the ride that he thought was a little too boring, Ash decided that he would accept the fact that he couldn't control his girlfriend and he needed to ease her in slowly. So, he got out some tokens that he had just brought, paid for the ride and sat down at the non-driver seat. This brought some surprise to Misty, as she whispered. "D-don't you wanna drive?"

"You're the one, who wanted the do this ride," he commented, with a smile as he gently took a hold of her hand and helped her into the swan-shaped boat. "I thought that you should do the driving, they're not that hard to control either. Giving a shy nod, Misty placed her hands on either side of the wheel and gently pushed the boat away from the docks and onto the lake. They weren't the only ones on the peaceful ride, they were a few other couples already in boats and they had to go around a simple and curvy track that was lined with little markers.

The swan boat was very slowly, which made it really easy for Misty to notice where the little markers were and easily curve around them to follow the course around the lake. Sure, it was a large lake. It wasn't long before the two discovered the wheel's ability to move between the boat's riders and Ash took over about halfway, allowing Misty to gently move her hand through the water and pick up a water lily. A faint smile blossomed onto her face as she held it close. Noticing the flower, Ash took it from her and gently tied it into her hair. "Thanks..." she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Your welcome," he replied as he manoeuvred the boat to a stop at the dock. Gently helping her out, he smiled and made his next request as they left the gates of the ride. "Well, we're planning on staying until 9," he mentioned as he glanced at his watch. "We're been here for half an hour and its four now, so we have five hours. Do you wanna pick something up to eat from the restaurant nearly or continuing onto our next ride?"

There was silence, time just seemed to slow around them even with all the busy sounds and the chittering of Pokemon around them. As for their own Pokemon, they had let them wander around. The beauty of this park was its attractions for Pokemon-only and the two lovers didn't want their Pokemon to suffer, so they had made the agreement of letting the trio of mons look around the park at their own pace. Eventually, Misty gave her response as she clicked that they had just been standing their awkwardly. "Um...well, we could say we c-could look around the p-park for another hour and eat at 5?..." she didn't know if it was a decent solution, so she just shuffled in her shoes as she waited for Ash's response.

"Sounds good, lets continue around the park and go on what we find interesting," he smiled, taking her hand into his own and walking down the sandy path that led them around the park. Misty's eyes gleamed at every ride they came across, but there was a mixture of fear whenever she saw one of the larger roller coasters. Then her eyes caught sight of the teacups and Ash internally sighed, instinctively knowing what her next question would be. Especially after seeing her sparkly eyes as she looked up at him. "Sure, lets go on them..." he commented, hiding away his mild annoyance at the sight of the childish ride.

This seemed to excite Misty more than anything, as she sprinted into a run to get in line for the ride. Whilst surprised by his girlfriend's sudden speedy movements, Ash grinned and smiled. If the ride made her happy, then he would be happy with her. That made sense, right? Handing over the tokens, they got into one of the spinning cups. Though, the movement of the pair of them sent the cup flying around on its axis causing Misty to squeal frighteningly until it stopped. For a moment, she regretted coming on the ride but she didn't let it effect her. They had paid for this, no going back now.

Then music clicked into action as the ride began moving, the cups took a while but they were soon spinning around gently on their axis as they worked their way around the circular track. Glancing at the moving scenery around them, she could see the sun as it made its way down the sky. It was Autumn, so it was an expected sight. She smiled, looking at the skies as they faded into a beautiful mix of oranges and pinks. Then she glanced back at Ash, a smile glistening on her face. "It looks beautiful..." she whisper, as their cup span again so she could no longer see out of the side of the ride. However, Ash could and he gave a satisfied nod of the head.

Looking back at Misty, he could see her ringlets sway in the air that was trapped within the moving ride. Her graceful, glistening smile and her adorable clothes. He had to make a mental note to kiss her when they got off the ride, the cup spun once more allowing Misty the chance to see the sun again. But that wasn't the only detail that caught her eye, the sight of a trio of Pokemon moving along the dirt path also caught her attention. Pikachu was leading the herd, his tail wrapped securely around the map that Ash had given him. Vaporeon looked excitable, putting at many of the Pokemon rides, whilst Togetic flew above them - clearly to keep an eye on distant ride. For a brief moment, the fairy/flying type seemed to notice her. They were far away, so Misty couldn't hear her cry out but she saw her mouth open and close rapidly. Smiling, she felt the ride come to a stop as the Pokemon faded from view.

Climbing out of the teacup, the pair thanked the ride operator and headed away from the ride. Then Ash's mental note caught up with him, as he looked at his girlfriend with a smile on his face. Gently, he lifted her hands to his mouth and kissed them. This seemed to get the tangerine haired girl to catch on as she gently leaned closer to him, delicately closing her eyes. Smiling, he leaned down and linked their lips together in a featherlight kiss. It lasted no more than a second, but Misty felt like it had been hours due to how sweet the action had been. But then the atmosphere shifted, she needed to get something off her chest. Based on what she had seen so far. "Ash...A-are you forcing yourself onto these...kiddie rides for me?" she whispered, uncertainty rising within her chest.

For a second, Ash didn't know whether to lie and deny such a theory. But then it clicked, Misty wouldn't want a liar in her life. She'd want honesty, especially with everything she had already been through. Gently, he caressed her cheek with his hand and whisper. "To be honest, yes. I wanted you to enjoy yourself, since this is one of your first days in complete freedom," his other hand gently rested on her back, just below where he knew her letter-shaped scars were. How he wished this had never happened to her, but he refused to upset the girl any further.

Leaning against him, she made up her mind quickly and stated. "Ash, this date isn't just about me. It's also about you. T-this r-relationship has to be give and take, I can't receive everything. I want you to enjoy yourself too," pushing herself away from him, she gave a cutesy smile and gently moved her shoe through the dirt. "So, how about we go on what you wanna go on next?" she said, a little more bravely than she had expected herself. Sighing, he knew that was coming and looked up at one of the roller coasters for a brief moment. That moment seemed to instantly make Misty understand, as she nodded mildly with a tremble of fear. Slapping herself internally, she continued in a voice no louder than a whisper. "I'll go on it, for you..."

There was clear reluctance in her eyes, but Ash respected her wishes and gently walked with her to the ramp that led up to the ride. When they got to the top, the coaster wasn't in the loading bay and was somewhere off on the track. So they sat down and waited, until the gently whistle of the ride called. It was a train-shaped coaster, very simple and it had earned the ride the name of 'runaway train'. Misty was helped onto the ride first, since she was quite small. Thankfully, they got the front seats and we're able to sit in the 'engine room', giving them full-view of the track ahead. Ash climbed in afterwards, sitting in what would have been the conductor's seat if it was an actual train.

The ride started slow, progressing up a steep upward track. It may have been slow, but it was absolutely nerve wrecking. Ash enjoyed every second, he adored the anticipation of a upcoming fall. However, he could tell that Misty wasn't as thrilled by the tension. Then, it came. The ride skidded to a halt, near hanging over the drop and that left fear in every rider as they weren't sure when the coaster would tip over the edge. Misty's eyes widened with fear, as 'what ifs' filled her mind. What if the coaster broke, what if the track broke. It was stupid thoughts as she knew the ride was very safe and well-monitored, but that didn't stop her fears none. Then the tension bubbled, bursting as the ride tilted forward and slammed down the tracks at a high accelerating speed.

Screaming, Misty's eyes squeezed shut as her breathing accelerated to match the speed of the ride. When would this end? She may have agreed to go on the ride for Ash, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it. Right? Wait...was this how Ash felt when he forced himself onto the 'kiddie' rides with her? Taking a fearful look at him, he seemed to be really enjoying the speed and adrenaline. Maybe...she could try to enjoy it...well she could if it didn't feel like her stomach was being lurched out of her with every jolt and turn. Then, the dreaded part that she had seen when she was looking. A massive loop, this pained her stomach even more and she felt like she wouldn't be able to hold her lunch in after the ride ended.

After this, the ride halted and made its way back to the loading bay. Her head was pulsing and it wasn't long after it was declare safe to exit the ride, that she wobbly did and threw up in the nearest bin - one that had been placed there, specifically for riders that were gonna be sick after a ride. After the dreading feeling in the pit of her stomach left her, she breathed in a sigh and looked over to Ash. He looked quite alright, but he was used to these extreme rides from what she could gather. Her poor stomach, destroyed by malnourished, just wasn't able to cope. Then her stomach lurched again, apparently she wasn't done with removing that horrid sensation just yet and hurled again. This time, she felt a comforting hand on her back. Rubbing gently, but also being mindful of the still painful scars hidden by her clothes. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was Ash.

"How you feeling, that ride must have taken it out of you?" he whispered gently, after she finished emptying her stomach out and was simply dry heaving. He felt pity for her, mostly since he was aware that she wasn't used to such severe rides. Not to mention the state, he figured, her gut was in after the years of abuse. Receiving not a verbal response, but a simple nod of the head, for his answer, he pressed on. "Do you think you could hold down something to eat, its about five now," he confirmed it by glancing at his watch, as she lifted her head and let a slight breathe of air out.

"Uh huh..." came the pitifully weak response, as Misty's vision stopped duplicating everything in sight. She managed to walk down the path to the nearest restaurant, though Ash kept a close glance on her every step of the way. He didn't want to risk her collapsing or anything. They decided to stay outside, figuring the fresh air would do some good to the still pale faced girl.

"Stay here, I'll go order the food," Ash said, smiling down at her as he made a mental note of the table number: 56. This earned a tiny nod, before he headed into the building. One step inside and he worked out that he was correct to stay outside. It was like a sweat-shop inside the restaurant, many families were eating inside and the heat from the cooking stoves in the back had just burst the hot air around. Even in the middle of autumn, he couldn't consider ever sitting inside. Heading over to the counter, he was surprised by the woman that was standing there.

Her long blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail, with a oversized straw hat. Whilst she was definitely older than him, she looked no older than 18. However, he knew differently as he greeted her. "Aunt Yellow!" whilst she wasn't his actual aunt, he still referred to her as such. Much like how he would still call Gary's father, Blue, uncle. Then there was Aunt Green, who had left with her daughter Leaf a few years prior.

"Nice to see you too, Ash," Yellow greeted with a pleasant, surprised smile. "How's your mother been, I haven't seen her much?" she asked, as she handed a recent order to the waiter to be taken into the kitchen.

"She's been fine, Raichu's been a greet help around the house," he commented with a smile, before remembering something. "Dad's Pika and your Chuchu should be proud for having such a great pair of twins, Pikachu been a great battler."

This brought a thankful smile to the older woman, as she recalled how she and Red had agreed to breed their two Pikachu once more. Even if she was long over her feelings for the boy's father, she still was grateful that he allowed the two Pokemon to get along. "Speaking of battling, you'll be going on your journey in a couple more years, right?"

"Uh huh, I wanna be a great battler like my father," Ash proudly stated, before remembering about Misty and adding in. "Plus, I want to take my girlfriend back to her hometown since she wants to find out what happened to her mother's gym," he had been surprised, sure, when Misty told him that her mother had been the former Cerulean gym leader and she had always been curious what had happened to the gym in the absence. She had been too coped up by her father's neglect and abusive behaviour to find out.

The mention of a girlfriend did bring some surprise to Yellow's face, but she smiled regardless. "You have a girlfriend now, Ash? I bet she's really pretty if she managed to win over your dense heart," this brought a chuckle from the woman as she thought of this. Ash wasn't as impressed but he had to admit that she was right. Both him and his father took so long to fall in love that it had to be true. "Well, I best get back to my job. Did you want to order something?"

"Yep," he commented, before listing off the food that he and Misty had agreed on. They were both vegetarian, mostly since they weren't completely sure about eating the meat of Pokemon. For them, it was either eat Pokemon or go vegetarian and they had preferred the latter option. Once everything was said, he made instantly plans to return to Misty and said. "Goodbye, Aunt Yellow. Hope you and Chuchu have a good night," this earned a smile from Yellow and a loud 'Pika' from the female Pokemon behind Yellow.

Returning to their table, Ash smiled at Misty's waiting face and sat down. "I've order the food and I'm sorry I took so long, turns out I know one of the workers in there," his girlfriend gave him a look that was a mixture of surprise and curiosity. "Her name is Yellow, she's a good friend of my father's. She's...known as a Healer by basically everyone, since she, well, has the ability to heal her Pokemon when they're hurt."

"Wow..." came the surprised whisper, since it was just about unheard of for trainers to be able to heal their own Pokemon. Well outside of Psychics, who could only heal on a spiritual level and not a physical one. "I...bet it was nice to see her again."

"Ya, its been a few year since Aunt Yellow last came around. She's normally fishing in the Viridian Forest with her Pikachu, Chuchu, and Butterfree, Kitty. She prefers it where its quite, so its a little unusual to see her working at such a busy place," Ash explained as he noticed a waiter coming over with their food, it had been pretty quick but he figured that Yellow might have done something regarding it. The food looked amazing, he had a nice salad that was shaped like a Pikachu. And Misty had a simply soup, since she still wasn't fully able to hold down solids after her kidnapping. It had only been a few days since her adoption after all, merely a week after she escaped from her father for the 2nd time.

They ate pretty much in silence, neither knowing what to say. Misty was more focused on not bringing back up the soup, especially as she noticed her head was still spinning lightly. And Ash, he just wanted a little bit of peace whilst they ate. Of course, this peace was broken when he heard a loud 'PIKACHU' behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he just got a see of flash of yellow before something landed on his head. "Pikachu, get off my head," he cried, trying to nudge the electric type off him. Once Pikachu jumped off, he went to join Vaporeon on the floor. Togetic, however, had already perched herself onto Misty's lap, much to her slight surprise.

Finally after numbing the pain in his head that had been caused by Pikachu's jumping, Ash said to the Pokemon. "Nice to you three too, how has your day been so far?"

"Pika!" "Vapor" "Ticku!" came the triplet of replies, none of which were able to be translated by either trainer. So Ash and Misty decided to just assume that they meant 'good' and that was that. It seemed about right as the Pokemon shared a similar expression: one of joy and happiness. But then, Togetic and Pikachu also shared an interesting look that surprised Misty. Sure, Togetic was a few years old...however, she never expected the fairy type to fall in love with another Pokemon. Even if she and Pikachu had gotten close, surely they were more akin to brother and sister? Right?...

Ash didn't seem to notice, as he continue trying to ask the Pokemon about what they did. Pikachu was the one that answered, in a large chain of his name. "Pika, pikaka. Pikachu-pika. Pipipi chu pika-pikachu pika chu pika pi-chuu!" he seemed to think Ash could understand him and was mildly annoyed when it seemed not to be the case. However, footsteps appeared behind them and was followed by a calm voice.

"Ash, I think your Pikachu is trying to tell you that he and Togetic went through the Pokemon love tunnel," everyone looked up and Ash smiled at the sight of Yellow, who was carrying Chuchu in her hand. Said heart-tailed Pikachu leapt from her trainer's arms and said hello to her youngest son. Yellow smiled and noticed Misty, before asking. "So this is your girlfriend, Ash? She is really pretty," stepping over, she asked in a kind voice. "Whats your name, sweetie. Ash never mentioned it."

Even with her shy personality, it didn't take long before Misty was replying. She had seemed to have sensed that Yellow was only being kind, nothing more. "Um...my name is Misty Wa..." she paused, rethinking what she was about to say. If she said 'waterflower', her birth family name, then bad memories would return. So, with a short breathe, she let out her new name. "M-maple, miss,"

"Nice to meet you, Misty. My name is Amarillo del Bosque Verde, but please call me Yellow. My long name is just awkward," the woman introduced calmly, before indicating towards Chuchu. "And that's my Pikachu, Chuchu. I found her during my travels, she's very kind. And she has the ability to Fly," whilst the electric type's ability to fly was surprising, Misty said nothing about it and just nodded her head. Yellow just smiled, not fazed by the girl's silence. "Ash, I need to get back to my work. Take good care of your girlfriend and enjoy the park."

"Don't worry, Aunt Yellow. Misty is in good hands," Ash said with his thumbs up, as he got up to wrap a protective arm around the girl. This brought a luminescent blush to the girl's face, but she made no complaints and attempts to remove Ash's arm. Instead, she just sat there with a little smile on her face. Giggling at the sight, Yellow left without another word with Chuchu not far behind. Looking back at Misty, Ash made the simple question. "Well, we're done here. So what do you want to do now?" he glanced at his watch. "Its half 5, so we have another 3 and a half hours."

Misty smiled up at him, before whispering. "...Lets switch between who chooses for each ride, Ash. Its not far if one of us always picks a ride," she stated the simply fact, as if it was obvious. This earned a nod and a smile from her boyfriend, he knew that she was being very selfless by letting him also pick. "...So...since you choose last time. Its mine...so well..."

* * *

The next few hours progressed in this way and they made it quite far into the park, it was nearing the end of their time though. And both of them had made a previous agreement to ride the Ferris Wheel at the very end, so they made their way to the big wheel with smiles printed on their faces. They got in line and waited patiently, until they reached the gate. Ash paid the remaining tokens and they got into the nearest seats. Their seat, ironically enough was based on a Pikachu. It fit them so well that they just smiled. Pikachu and Togetic were with them, placed squarely on their laps so that the bar would hold them in place. Vaporeon hadn't been allowed on the ride, but that was fine since the water type was cautious around heights.

The ride kicked started, pushing them into the air. About halfway up, they could already see the Maple residence in the distance. If Misty squinted, she could just make out the Pokemon barn and little figures entering and leaving. She remembered that it was the night feeding time, so May and Max would have been feeding the Pokemon about now. Glancing up, she looked at the stars as they twinkled and vanished every second. She could even make out a few constellations based on her lessons, smiling she pointed one out to Ash. "Look, it's the Arcanine constellation and there, the Growlithe one!"

Ash chuckled at her attitude, petting Pikachu's head which earned him a gently 'chaa' of appreciation. "You really love learning in school, don't you?" he asked gently, looking her straight in the face when she turned.

"Yah...I guess. I just like to learn, since it wasn't something I could have done when I was younger," a sorrowful look appeared in her eyes, as Togetic reached up in attempt to comfort her. "Ash...to be honest, today has been stressful. I love what you've done, its been amazing. But...whilst you were gone ordering food, an older man said hello and I couldn't even speak. He...looked really kind, yet I...just went mute. I...think he wasn't happy as he left without another word..." tears formed in her eyes. "...I wanted to say that I was over this...but..."

"Shh," he whispered, gently placing a spare hand on her back as the ride suddenly jolted stop in indication that another passenger was getting on. "I know you're not over this, and I don't think you'll ever truly be over it. You've been through a lot in your life, trauma is gonna live with you forever. However, I'll do everything I can to lessen your pain. Plus, I could even get my mom and Miss Caroline to look into therapists. I'm sure with a bit of therapy, your mental state will improve greatly. You want to go to Cerulean City in the future, right?"

"Y-ya..."

"Well then, we're going to need to get your confidence up. I don't want to baby you, I want you to be able to stand on your own two feet. You can be the person you were back before everything happened, if that is what you desire."

"Ash...I..." came her soft whisper, before she closed her mouth again and felt the wheel moving again below them. She looked up at the sky, seeing a shooting star fly by. Closing her eyes, she listened to the legend and thought about a wish. ' _I wish that I'd not be scared anymore...that I can stay with Ash and the Pokemon forever and ever,_ ' cracking her eye open, she saw Ash smiling at her as he nodded in understanding of what she had done. "...I love you," she whispered, leaning on him gently. "I...want to go on a journey. And for that..." she moved up and looked up with a mixture of confidence and fear in her eyes. "I'll go into therapy, to help my PTSD."

Nodding his head, Ash gently cupped her chin and brought her into a delicate kiss as the cart made its way over the peak of the ride. They were now facing the inward of the ride, unable to see the beautiful distance. However, they had one another and they couldn't care about the distance away. Pikachu and Togetic smiled at their trainers, before looking at one another with love in their eyes. Misty broke away from the kiss, just in time to see the two Pokemon engage in their own loving mouth-to-mouth contact. Initially surprised, she soon got over it and smiled with a whisper of congrats. Ash just laughed, giving Pikachu a thumbs up. "Good work, buddy."

"Pika, pikapi!" returned Pikachu, evidently saying 'good work, Ash' in his own language. He then turned to Misty and said. "Pika pikachu pikapi, pikachupi," it didn't take a genius for her to work out what he meant by that. 'take care of Ash, Misty'.

"And you take good care of Togetic, she's your mate now. Just like how..." she paused, looking at Ash with loving eyes. "Just like how I'm Ash's girlfriend," she took the initiative this time and kissed him on the lips, still smiling gently. "I love you Ash...and I...always will..."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that, it took me a while to write since I wanted it to carry the sweetness properly. Also, why not just throw Yellow from Pokemon Adventures in. I support SpecialShipping, but I had already shipped Red with Delia so...it kinda just worked out that way. Speaking of adventures, one day I may write either a Special shipping fanfic or frantic shipping. Since I'm a huge fan of both ships.


	18. Unforgettable Birthday

It had been a few months since Misty's adoption and it was soon revealed that her birthday was coming up soon, Ash was a little panicky. He wasn't sure what to get his girlfriend as a present. So right now, he was standing at the entrance of the mall with May by his side. He looked quite uncomfortable, he hated shopping. But he really wanted to get Misty something special. Which was the reason he brought May along, after all the two were adoptive sisters. If anyone should know the tangerine haired girl's interests, it'd be her. "So, what do you suggest I get for her?..."

"Well, I know my gift for her. If you ask me, Misty would be happy with anything you got her. She'd know that you care about her after all," the brunette responded with a kind smile. She mused over her next thought and continued, her smile still illuminating her face. "If I had to suggest a present that you could get her, I'd get something simple. But heart-felt. Like a locket with a image of you two or something."

Ash nodded, that made sense. He knew that his girlfriend would be fine with anything he gave her - as long as it wasn't a bug. But he still wanted to do something special, he actually liked the locket idea that May had suggested. But it was finding a decent one. Once he told May, she lead him to the nearby Jewelry Store. He looked around at the lockets, there were either shaped in hearts or diamonds. Some allowed pictures inside and some didn't. He was looking particularly at the ones that allowed images. He eventually found a stunning heart-shaped one, it was fake gold but amazing to look at. And the best thing about it, it had a 'M' engraved into the center of the heart.

He gently picked it up and clicked it open, there was enough space for a picture. He smiled, it was perfect. He looked around for his girlfriend's adoptive sister and eventually spotted her. He called her over and thus seconds later May was smiling at the locket in his hand. She spoke softly, nodding her head. "It's beautiful, Ash. I'm sure she'll love it if you have the money to afford it."

"May, that's why I started doing that part-time job as a stupid company mascot," he sighed, checking the piece label. It wasn't too expensive, the gold wasn't real after all. He checked his wallet, sighing with relief since he had just enough to cover the cost. He smiled, yeah this was what he was gonna get. There was no doubt in his decision. Even May agreed to it.

He made sure to buy a box to keep it in. He couldn't risk it breaking and he needed something to hold it so he could put the wrapping paper around it. He smiled, Misty's 15th birthday was definitely going to be a new occurance for her. The girl hadn't seemed very euthastic when she brought up the date, she hadn't celebrated her birthday since prior to her father's abuse beginning. To her, her birthday was just another day and it symbolized her coming into this world. Coming into the world just to be abused, she had said. He wanted to make her feel special and her birthday was the best time for it.

* * *

The next couple of days passed by and Misty's birthday arrived. It had been on a Saturday, so it was a little hard to set up for the party. May had offered to take the girl out though, to keep her busy and unaware of what was going on back home. Once the two adoptive sisters left, Ash and the group began to prepare for Misty's party. It was just simple decoration that they put up, placing her presents in the center of the room. Ash's present didn't remain with the others though, he wanted to hand it personally to Misty and everyone respected that decision. As the children were setting up decorations, Delia was making a cake with Caroline - Max's, May's and Misty's mom.

The cake was beautiful too, made with vanilla excess. It was a two layered cake, with strawberry jab running between the two circular pieces of sponge. The icing was a stunning white and stood out a mile. Lastly, on the very top was writing. It was written in chocolate, so it was very edible. It said: **Happy 15th Birthday, Misty** _._ In bold letters and it just looked amazing. The two women even added little cake-decoration in the form of little toys. The toys were of Misty's Vaporeon and Togetic, they looked simple adorable.

Max was keeping the Pokemon entertained, which was amusing considering the amount of Pokemon that the Maple family had. May's 5 Pokemon seemed to be in charge of the group. Blaziken, especially, since he was the oldest. Vaporeon and Glaceon seemed very close, but that wasn't really the surprise. Nope, the surprise was the litter of three Eevee that stood between them. One of them was shiny. When Misty moved in, the two Pokemon became quite interested in one another very quickly. They were opposite gender and so within only a month, a trio of eggs was found on the Pokemon pen. Of the group, there was 2 males and a female.

To tell the trio of Eevee part was simple, the Maple family gave them nicknames. The nicknames were the represent which Eeveelution they wished to be. The shiny male wanted to be a Umbreon, so the nickname 'Shadow' was soon applied. The other male wished to be a Jolteon, so the name 'Sparks' was thrown around until it got directed attached to him. And the female wanted to be a Sylveon, so the name 'Charm' referred to her.

In total, the Maple family had 12 Pokemon in total. It was quite insane, so most were either kept in the pens like Norman's Pokemon or in their poke balls like May's. Togetic and Vaporeon didn't seemed to have poke balls as they were never used - of course they did, though. But at the end of the day, it didn't matter to Misty if she used poke balls or not. No, they weren't Pokemon for training. Vaporeon was her friend and Togetic was her baby after all.

Once the party was set up, Drew texted his girlfriend to let her that she could bring Misty back now. It took a few minutes before the reply came about as a 'okay', the two had gone shopping and it would have been hard to not make Misty suspicious. May knew that she'd have needed to find somewhere to hide, so the group were prepared for a long wait. Everyone made sure to hide when another text came to say that 'they were on there way and were about 5 minutes away'.

* * *

Misty walked in shortly after May, she found the place eerily quiet. She tapped May's shoulder and asked. "W-why is it so quiet?...N-normally Togetic's flying over to greet me by now with Vaporeon shortly behind with the Tri-Vees."

May chuckled, but made no effort to answer the question. She walked into the living room, placing a secret finger to her lips as she took her place. Misty had paused, annoyed that she didn't get a reply. She was about ready to blow her top, something she'd been doing a lot recently. She had managed to go back to a more tomboyish state like when she was younger, she said. But as she walked into the dark living room after her sister, she frowned. It was too dark and her eyes were having trouble adjusting. But 3 seconds after she walked in and tried to work out what was going on, the lights flickered on. Everyone then yelled out in unison. "Happy 15th Birthday!"

Misty wasn't sure how to reply, she weren't really interested in having a birthday party. But here, everyone had planned it. In front of her was May and Ash, who both smiled at her. "D-did you?...Why?.." she stirred, trying to find her voice in the shock.

May grinned, and pushed Ash forward. She then explained, as the boy nervously held his present behind him. "He was the one, who planned it all. He wanted you to feel special on your birthday, since you haven't experienced a proper birthday in years," Misty's face was quite surprised, only causing May to smile more. "Ask him yourself."

Ash nodded, smiling at the girl. "Yeah, you deserve to be happy. Don't say that you don't care about celebrating your birthday, your not stuck with him anymore. Your with us, happy with a new family. I want you to be able to enjoy yourself, especially on your special day," he paused, moving his hand in front of himself to show her a cute little box. It was pink, wrapped with a red ribbon. "Here, I want you to open my present first."

"Present..." the tangerine haired girl whispered, awkwardly taking ahold of the box. "S-so, I open it?" she asked, it sounded stupid but she hadn't had a present in nearly 5 years. He slowly nodded, smiling. Misty just looked at him for a second, before slowly tugging at the ribbon. Once it was pulled off and it fell to the floor, she gently snapped the box open. Her eyes went misty, before she teared up. She lunged at Ash and hugged him. "Thank you...it's beautiful..." she pulled the locket out with her free hand and smiled softly.

"Open it."

She was quite confused by his statement, but she clicked the locket open. Inside was a picture of her and Ash, which had been taken a few weeks prior. They were hugging on a Ferris Wheel - they had gone to a fair and ended up going on the wheel. They loved the view and had really wanted to take a photo, but ended up hugging in the process due to the awkward moves they made. - It was a very adorable picture and it brought a smile to her face, despite the joyful tears in her viridian eyes.

Ash smiled, bringing her into a soft and loving kiss. When they parted, he lead her to the sofa. "So, you should open your other presents," but before he let her, he gently took the locket and placed it around her neck on its chain. "There, you look beautiful, Mist."

"T-thank you, Ash..." she whispered, a faint blush on her cheeks. He sat down next to her as she began to open the presents. There was a lot, every single on of their friends and her adoptive family had gotten her a present each. May insisted that her present should be opened first, since she arranged it all when helping Ash out with his present hunting. Misty complied and opened the box, seeing a cute little piece of blue bobble. May smiled, looking at Misty's expression. She then picked the blue elasticated ring of fabric and gently grabbed a large chunk of Misty's medium lengthen hair. She then pulled the hair into a side tail.

Misty reached up to touch the side tail, before smiling. She loved the style, she always wanted Daisy to tie her hair into pigtails when she was younger. But she was too scare during her father's 'reign' over her to ask, thus she cut her hair short so that she wouldn't look cute. But now she was older, free, she loved the idea of having a tomboyish side-tail. Ash grinned, giving her a thumbs up to show his approval of the style.

Present after present was opened, the tri-vees (Charm, Shadow and Sparks) kept trying to catch Misty's attention with little tricks. At one point, the trio of Eevee hopped onto the sofa and snuggled against her. All she could do was laugh, the babies were adorable. The whole idea of the trio acting cute brought a thought to her mind. ' _Yeah, Ash is right. I can't live in the past anymore...I can accept a birthday party. It's so fun and I love the presents,_ ' she looked over to Ash and smiled, before whispering so only he caught it. "Thanks, Ash...today's been amazing..."

He nodded, smiling. He was glad that she was happy and he had to admit, she looked beautiful with her hair up. She was always stunning, he'd admit that completely but she looked even better now. Though, he held in the wish to kiss her so she could open the rest of her presents with distractions. She had gotten many different things from everyone, probably the 'weirdest' present was from Drew. It was a phone, seems normal. But it was a phone shaped like a Togetic. He explained. "You love Togetic so much, and I want you to have a way to contact us when we're not all together. I'm surprised you haven't already brought one, most girls do."

"...I'm not 'most girls'..." she had responded, it was accurate. Most girls weren't abused for 4 years, raped and starved. But she didn't want to remember all that, so she just thought about the phone. It did look cute, that was for sure. Weird, but cute. A very interesting combination. She had Togetic on her lap and she was petting the Happiness Pokemon, who was looking at the phone. She seemed slightly offended or something, but didn't make any noise in her language. Well, not until Misty's voice said. "Togetic, what you think?"

"Toge-ticku..." she whined, not liking the phone. She basically said it looks nothing like her. Misty chuckled, saying that she wouldn't use it often. "Ticku.."

"Hey, I only want to keep it to chat with the others...you're much cuter then the phone anyway, Togetic."

"Toge!" the Pokemon seemed happier now, as she turned around and hugged the girl. Everyone smiled, they all knew Misty's relationship with the Pokemon and accepted it. Ash especially loved it, even after he found out from Misty that Togetic believed that he was her daddy. Yeah, Togetic was their baby and nothing was gonna change that. They may be different species, but she was definitely the closest thing to a biological child they had presently. Vaporeon hopped onto Ash's lap at that moment to join in with her mate, Glaceon, and their cubs.

Well, quite a few things had happened since Misty arrived. She was having less nightmares every night. She had an amazing and loving family, a handsome and cool boyfriend and two amazing Pokemon. Her life couldn't be better, especially after what had happened in her past. Now she wanted nothing more then to just look towards the future and live a happy life, away from the pain and hardship that her past had given her.

* * *

What you think. We've still got a epilogue left, but I consider the story complete with this chapter.


	19. Epilogue

Here's the epilogue, I hope it's worth it. It's quite short but I think it's sweet.

* * *

More then a year had past since Ash and Misty met. When Ash turned 16, his first thought was wanting to go on a Pokemon journey. Teenagers could only travel after they hit this age, not before due to too many dangers. A 10 year old looking after themselves would be absolutely absurd. Ash had always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Pokemon trainer, he already had Charizard and Pikachu - he had managed to ask his father to send Charizard back in preparation for potentially leaving soon. But he wanted more then that.

But, shortly after the thought enter his mind, another clouded his decision. Misty, his girlfriend of one year and the girl he walked so hard to protect from her beast of a father. The girl had managed to relax in the last year, she was much more open to other people and found hobbies in fishing and such. And from what he heard from May, she never had any nightmares of the events that had happened. Which was a great thing and he was definitely proud of his girlfriend. But even so, would he be willing to leave her to go on a journey. No, 100 percent.

He knew he needed to talk to her about it, so he walked along the road until he arrived at the park. Nowadays, Misty was always hanging around the large lake that sat in the center of the park, she loved to fish there. She even caught a couple of water types, such as a Staryu and a Goldeen. She didn't like it when Magikarp appeared, but only because she was quite scared of Gyarados and she didn't want one of them to evolve on her. Well, she was in the place he expected her to be. Sat next to her was Vaporeon and Togetic was sitting on her lap. "I knew I'd find you here..."

When his voice came, the tangerine haired girl jumped a little and almost dropped the rod she was holding. She looked at him, angry blazing in her eyes. "Ash! Don't scare me like that, I almost dropped the fishing rod into the lake!" Misty had managed to be way more confident, able to actually control her emotions. She certainly wasn't as shy as she was. Ash personally liked this side of Misty, he found her quite attractive when she was angry - he didn't purposely make her angry, usually. She sighed after a little while and continued. "So...why did you want to find me?"

"Well, I guess I have something I want to talk about," he said, sitting down next to her. His tone was quite serious, so Misty reeled in her hook and placed the rod down next to her. "You know how a lot of trainers go on Pokemon adventures when they turn 16?" she gave a slow, unsure nod that caused him to continue. "I've always dreamed of going on one, Misty. so I could follow in my dad's footsteps," he paused and sighed. "But now, I don't want to leave you behind. So I wanted to ask, will you come on a journey with me?" he smiled, possibly to convince her.

Misty smiled and gave a small nod. She gently leaned her head onto his shoulder and whispered. "I was hoping you'd ask. I wanna become the Cerulean gym leader like my mom once was. But to be able to, I needed to go on a journey so I could understand Pokemon much more. But I didn't want to go alone...even when I turned 16 those few months back. Even as I watched May and Drew go out to start their journey, I waited for you..." she giggled a little. "You were the youngest of the group and everyone knew you'd be the last to leave, but I want to leave with you. Besides, I doubt you'd be able to look after yourself."

He nervously laughed, he actually agreed with that. "Well, I suppose that's a yes. A long explanation, but its nice to know why you want to. So, you want to be a water type gym leader?" she nodded slowly, not saying anything as she just rested on his shoulder. Ash smiled, nodding as he thought. "Well, besides Togetic, you already have 4 water types in your procession. Vaporeon, Staryu, Goldeen and Caserin."

"Yeah..." she whispered in a almost inaudible voice, closing her eyes as she thought of her Pokemon. Caserin was a Luvdisc, she had opened it with the help of Daisy. They were allowed to catch a pair of Luvdisc, which they soon named Caserin and Luverin to give them separate identities. Caserin actually happened to be in love with Luverin, but the female Pokemon didn't want to return his feelings. So he gets quite depressed a lot of the time. Then she began to speak again, giving a soft smile with her eyes still closed. "I know, it doesn't mean that I can't catch more..."

"Well, should we tell our moms that we want to go on a journey together? I'm sure we can leave as soon as Professor Oak gives us a Kantonian starter. I know which one I want anyway. I already have Charizard, so I thought Bulbasaur would be a nice idea. You thinking of having Squirtle?" he got a two happy nods from his cute girlfriend and that was it, the two wanted to go on a journey together. So they could be together for a long time and fulfill their respective dreams and wishes.

* * *

And that the story wrapped up. Fully complete. If you want me to do sequel, please comment as I assume that quite a few of you want me to cover their actual journey?


	20. Sequel (Notice if you haven't seen it)

Sequel up if you haven't already noticed. Link is below:

s/12593958/1/Traveling-to-the-Light

Please read if you enjoyed this one.


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